The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called for an immediate end to the “illegal” court trial of its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB expressed concern over the “political trial charade” displayed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
“We demand that the Nigerian government discontinue the politically motivated retrial of our leader, Nnamdi Kanu. IPOB is not interested in their shambolic political trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Nigeria court,” Powerful said.
“The whole political court trial charade has gone on for too long with no end in sight. It’s a good thing that IPOB distanced itself from further court trials.”
The group asked: “How can Nnamdi Kanu, who has been discharged and acquitted by the apex court, be compelled to seek bail from a lower court? Why did the federal government refuse to obey the 13th October 2022 judgment of the Appeal Court of Nigeria? What are they planning to achieve with the new request for bail at the lower court?”
Powerful insisted that the IPOB leadership is no longer interested in the political trial of its leader, stressing that the decision of the Supreme Court to return the case to the Federal High Court after confirming that the government invasion of Kanu’s home was an assassination attempt “is simply ridiculous.”
The IPOB spokesperson further stated, “The Supreme Court, on December 15, 2023, confirmed that the process of returning him to Nigeria contravened local and international laws.
“Why then did the Supreme Court refuse to agree with the judgment of the Appeal Court but chose to return the case to the High Court if not for political manoeuvres? If their plans are to cage Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB with illegal and stringent bail conditions, they will fail.
“The Nigerian judiciary cannot build on illegality by benefiting from their own crimes. We insist that the Nigerian government violated their own local laws and at the same time violated international laws by going to Kenya to kidnap Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and extraordinarily renditioned him to Nigeria.
“The worldwide IPOB family stands by the judgment of the Appeal Court and will never accept or go by any bail conditions that the Federal Government of Nigeria plans to impose on our leader through Justice Binta Nyako.
“The Nigeria government’s refusal to obey the judgment of the Appeal court because it didn’t favor them will come with consequences.”
The IPOB further noted, “Nnamdi Kanu is the only political prisoner in Nigeria. All other political prisoners from other ethnic groups have either been discharged and acquitted or their cases dropped by the Nigerian government.
“They are all free men today except Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The Federal Government of Nigeria is demonstrating an ethnic hatred against Ndigbo as displayed by the continuous illegal detention and trial and retrial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu using the instrumentality of the corrupt legal system in Nigeria.
“President Bola Tinubu and his Attorney General should discontinue the charade of the High Court case against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. They should forget about imposing any barbaric bail conditions on him after violating his fundamental human rights for almost three (3) years. Every illegal and barbaric bail condition they plan to impose on our leader will be null and void.”
Credit: Sahara Reporters
