South-Easterners in diaspora under the aegis of World Igbo Congress have demanded the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from detention.
The congress made the demand on Tuesday in a statement signed by its Chairman, Prof. Anthony Ejiofor, Secretary-General, Chris Ogara and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Basil Onwukwe.
Recall that a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal on Thursday in their ruling declared that Kanu’s rendition from Kenya in June 2021 by the Nigerian government was illegal. The Appellate court further discharged and acquitted the IPOB leader who has been in detention since his rendition.
But the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Abubakar Malami, while reacting to the court ruling, insisted that Kanu was only discharged but not acquitted. Hence, Kanu remained in the custody of the Department of State Service almost a week after the court judgment.
In the statement, the Congress noted that the Nigerian government must respect its laws and global laws by releasing Kanu immediately without further delay.
The statement read, “World lgbo Congress, on behalf of all lgbo in the Diaspora, welcomes with joy, the order on Thursday, October 13, 2022, by a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja led by Justice Hanatu Sankey which discharged Nnamdi Kanu of all the charges against him.
“This monumental order was in consonance with all law-abiding minds throughout the world and buttresses what everyone who is conscious of legal fairness, equity and the rule of law has been saying since his illegal rendition from Kenya, of this proponent of referendum and self-determination.
“World Igbo Congress and its people are troubled by the obviously devious and pathetic semantic arguments being fielded by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, over the “discharged versus acquitted” obfuscation as well as his delusional logic of pre-rendition and post rendition offenses by Nnamdi Kanu as reasons for not releasing him as the order demanded.
“We are also at a loss as to the business of the National Security Council in this matter since the presidency and all its organs had disingenuously washed its hands off the matter when a political solution was sought.”
The Congress stated that it recalls “That the government descended on the home of Nnamdi Kanu in 2015 with its ill-intentioned “operation python dance”, a prejudicial action that forced Nnamdi Kanu to flee for his life.
“In 2018, an international human rights tribunal to which Nigeria is a signatory, granted a sound decision to Nnamdi Kanu directing President Buhari to cease and desist from any further law enforcement actions against the IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu. The tribunal wrote an impassioned letter to Buhari, stressing the need for immediate compliance. This was ignored by the government.
“In June 2021, the Federal Government criminally and illegally extradited Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya and rather than hide its face in shame, has continued to dety all logical legal arguments against its ill-advised action purporting Mr. Kanu to have jumped bail. A federal high court in Umuahia, Abia State quashed this warped logic that required Nnamdi to be freed of all charges.
“In July/August of 2022, the Federal government refused to comply with the directives issued by the United Nations Human Rights Council (the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention) in which it demanded an immediate unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu. We still do not have clarity on the reasons for this refusal.
“These current unconscionable arguments by the AGF and the Security Council are further exhibition of the pattern of disobedience to international norms and legal systems and World Igbo Congress condemns this familiar particularisation in its entirety. Consequently, World lgbo Congress, in consonance with all law-abiding people of Nigeria and the world who know injustice especially when it is blatant, calls on Nigeria to be a country that obeys its own laws and release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally.
“The president has so far lost several opportunities to present himself as a statesman in this matter. We call on him to rise up beyond the deleterious reach of his advisers and do the right thing. A native doctor that is treating a patient’s eye problem must avoid pepper in the solution medication. RELEASE NNAMDI NOW.
“We call on all Diaspora lgbo to remain law-abiding as we continue the fight for restoration of peace, security, justice, equity and fair play in the Nigerian polity and the future of lgbo land.”
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