FEBRUARY 20 , 2023 | EASTERN PILOT Report By: Biodun Busari | The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu needs to ur...
FEBRUARY 20 , 2023 | EASTERN PILOT
Report By: Biodun Busari |
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu needs to urgently undergo an ear surgery, according to his lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor. Ejiofor said Kanu’s left ear “was badly impaired on account of the torture he received in the hands of his abductors in Kenya.” The lawyer made this known in a statement following his recent visit alongside other lawyers to the detained IPOB leader in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
He also berated the federal government for its swift compliance with the interim decision of the Supreme Court on cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, but failed to accept courts’ orders that have ruled in Kanu’s favour. Recall that The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Thursday, October 13, 2022 quashed the terrorism charge the Federal Government preferred against the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. It discharged and acquitted him of the seven-count charge pending against him before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The appellate court, in a decision by a three-man panel led by Justice Jummai Hanatu, said it was satisfied that FG flagrantly violated the law, when it forcefully rendered Kanu from Kenya to the country for the continuation of his trial. It held that such extra-ordinary rendition, without adherence to due process of the law, was a gross violation of all international conventions, protocols and guidelines that Nigeria is signatory to, as well as a breach of the Appellant’s fundamental human rights. The appellate court noted that FG failed to refute the allegation that the IPOB leader was in Kenya and that he was abducted and brought back to the country without any extradition proceeding.
It held that FG was “ominously silent on the issue” which it described as very pivotal in determining whether the trial court would still have the jurisdiction to continue with the criminal proceeding before it. “In law, that is a costly failure and such failure is an admittance by the Respondent. “Where a party fails to controvert a deposition by an opponent, the issue not contested is deemed conceded”, the court held, adding that the onus was on FG to prove the legality of the Appellant’s arrest and return from Kenya.
More so, the court noted that Nigeria is a signatory to OAU Convention which it ratified on April 28, 2022, as well as the Charter of Human and Peoples Rights, which it said prescribed how a wanted person could be transferred from one country to the other. It held that any extradition request must be in writing, with a statement indicating offences for which a person is wanted. The appellate court held that FG’s action tainted the entire proceeding it initiated against Kanu and amounted to “an abuse of criminal prosecution in general”.
“The court will never shy away from calling the Executive to order when it tilts towards Executive recklessness”, the Appellate court held, even as it accused FG of engaging in “serious abuse of power”. Nevertheless, the appellate court said it would be pre-judicial for it to make an order on the proscription of IPOB since the issue is still on appeal. It held that the proscription order by the lower court would subsist until it is set-aside.
“And the judgment of the Federal High Court Umuahia which ordered for the unconditional release of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. This clearly supports the notion that some are considered less entitled to justice, in the Nigerian society,” the statement partly read. “It is disheartening to note that there is no remarkable improvement in Kanu’s health condition,” it added. It further read, “Kanu complained that the DSS remained adamant and refused to adhere to the medical opinion of their own doctor, who stressed that Kanu needs to undergo an urgent ear surgery to salvage whatever is left of his left ear, which was badly impaired on account of the torture he received in the hands of his abductors in Kenya.
“Kanu lamented that over a month ago, he wrote out the beverages and other items including soap, that he needed; and he was informed that the approval of the Director of Operations needed to be obtained before same could be provided for him. Unfortunately, the said items are yet to be provided for Kanu. “More so, Kanu stated that he was not given any breakfast today (Thursday). He was only provided with a salty meal shortly before the visit, and he was constrained to eat part of it to enable him to take his medication.
“Unfortunately, Kanu is kept in solitary confinement where he is unable to personally respond to the retinue of lies being sold to the unsuspecting public by the DSS. “It is reasonable to believe that Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is being treated so shabbily because his oppressors expect his followers, upon reading/hearing of his condition and shabby treatment to violently revolt, thereby playing into the hands of the sponsored marauders presently running rampage in our land.”
Ejiofor, however, disclosed that Kanu urged his supporters to “remain focused, ceaselessly pray for him, and remain undivided in your peaceful solidarity.”
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