The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, says the matter of releasing him should be in compliance with the subsisting Federal High Court judgment that declared his detention as unconstitutional.
According to Kanu, “it should not be an act of mercy, pardon, executive clemency or even amnesty”.
Kanu made the declaration when his legal team visited him at the custody of the Department of the State Services, Abuja, where he is being detained since 2021 after being renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria.
Kanu’s Special Counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed this in a press release. Ejimakor earlier tweeted that Kanu had been summoned to appear before a Federal High Court of Abuja next Monday. Kanu had last year demanded the recusal of Justice Binta Nyako of the court, citing bias. He also demanded the appointment of another judge to preside over his trial or at best the transfer of his case to any Southeast states.
Quoting Ejimakor, “The decision to free Kanu from detention and discontinue his infamous prosecution can be made by simply resorting to the constitutional provisions that empower the Attorney-General of the Federation (on the directives of the President) to discontinue any prosecution.”
According to him, Kanu was adamant that nobody should plead or beg anybody on his behalf because “he has committed no crime”.
The release stated that, “Self-determination which is the real issue that got twisted to suddenly become a high crime is an inalienable right guaranteed under the laws of Nigeria, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and Kenya. Thus, the perverse and unlawful criminalisation of his exercise of this right should not unwittingly be encouraged through some misguided appeals for pardon, clemency or mercy.
“Thus, releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not an act of mercy or pardon but an act of abiding by rule of law. In as much as those calling for his release are sincere, their calls for pardon or clemency may be misconstrued as a greenlight to the executive branch or even the courts to violate the rule of law by continuing to subject Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to a prosecution or trial that does not comport with the tenets of the Constitution and Nigeria’s treaty obligations.”
Ejimakor in the release urged those pleading for Kanu’s release to “emulate the language and tact used by Afenifere, Ohanaeze, World Igbo Congress (WIC), ranking members of the National Assembly, American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Ambassadors for Self Determination (based in America), the international community and a host of others who have made it clear that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu deserves to be released because he has committed no offence known to law.”
The release continued, “If truth be told, it is Nigeria’s executive branch which extraordinarily renditioned Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that should show contrition for resorting to extraordinary rendition which is a State crime under international law and and the common law.
“If any begging must be done, it should be directed to the courts to conduct his cases and that of IPOB with the utmost impartiality and adherence to rule of law, equity and good conscience. Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu sincerely thanks everyone working assiduously towards the restoration of security, tranquility and good order in his beloved Igboland.”
IPOB: Kanu Demands Rule Of Law, Not Clemency For Release is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
