Following a landmark ruling by a Kenyan high court declaring the abduction and rendition of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu from the country to Nigeria, as unlawful and illegal, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called on the Nigerian government to end the ongoing trial of its leader.
The pro-Biafra agitators who made the demand in a statement on by Monday by its Director of Legal Affairs, Research and Global Communications, Barrister Onyedikachi Ifedi, said the continued trial of Kanu by the federal government is a national disgrace and a clear indication that the government has continued to commit acts of terrorism and a violation of both domestic and international law.
Ifedi who described the Kenyan court ruling as a judicial indictment of what it called a “criminal operation” carried out under the watch of former Nigerian Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, said the only way the Nigerian government would vindicate itself is to discontinue the trial of Kanu.
“This ruling is not merely a vindication of Mazi Kanu’s long-standing position. It is a direct judicial indictment of the lawlessness perpetuated by the Nigerian government,” Ifedi said.
“That now exposes Nigeria to multiple counts of treaty violations, state-sponsored terrorism, and grave human rights abuses.
“Any Nigerian official, civilian or military, involved in the abduction of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya has, by operation of Nigerian law, committed an act of terrorism,” the statement added.
Referencing the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ifedi cited Article 12(4) which prohibits the expulsion of any legally admitted non-national without due legal process, Ifedi urged Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who is currently presiding over Kanu’s trial, to suspend proceedings and initiate a review of the court’s jurisdiction in light of the Kenyan ruling and Nigeria’s laws.
“Justice must begin with an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Nigeria must release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and terminate this trial forthwith, or risk being permanently stained as a rogue state that has criminalised its own Constitution.
“A trial built on illegality is itself illegal. A court that closes its eyes to jurisdictional abuse loses moral and legal legitimacy,” Ifedi declared.
