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…Says IPOB leader does not have faith in Nigeria’s judicial system anymore
From Abubakar Yakubu, Abuja
On March 19, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja turned down the bail application of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and opted for accelerated hearing in the charges bordering on terrorism filed against him by the Federal Government.
Shortly after the ruling, the most senior counsel in Kanu’s legal team, Nnaemeka Ejiofor spoke with Sunday Sun on how the IPOB leader felt about the denial of his bail application and his next line of action. Excerpt:
How did Nnamdi Kanu feel when his bail application was turned down at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja?
Just like all of us in his legal team and his supporters, he felt bad and sad that he has been in detention for a cumulative period of five years (from 2015) when he was first arrested and released in 2017 and later kidnapped from Kenya in 2021 and brought to Nigeria, where he has been kept in solitary confinement in the Department of State Services (DSS) dungeon till date.
Does Kanu still have faith in Nigeria’s judicial system?
Well, if you ask me, Nnamdi Kanu does not have faith in Nigeria’s judicial system anymore because the system has consistently proven itself to be a toothless bulldog. Its orders have consistently and flagrantly been disobeyed by the Federal Government without consequence. Several times the court has made orders for Nnamdi Kanu to be allowed change of clothes, but the DSS has consistently disobeyed and disrespected that order. Orders have also been made for his medical records to be given to him and it took repeated orders of the court and persuasion for the DSS to comply. Again, orders have also been made for visitations by lawyers of his choice, but several times, those orders have not been complied with. So, Nnamdi Kanu is dealing with a judiciary that makes orders that are not obeyed. Furthermore, there is also the unfortunate disregard of the Supreme Court’s judgment of the 15th of December 2023, which held that the Federal High Court ought not to have revoked the bail of Nnamdi Kanu, following his escape from death when security forces led by the Nigeria Army invaded his ancestral home at Afaraukwu in Abia State, but unfortunately on March 19, 2024, the Federal High Court in total disregard of the Supreme Court’s ruling, as well as directive still refused to restore the bail of Kanu. So, you have a situation of what can be referred to as judicial rascality and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu does not have confidence in the Nigerian judicial system. It is important to state that the African Union and the United Nations, working groups have previously decided on this matter and found the Federal Government guilty of breaching the constitutional rights of Nnamdi Kanu and they directed that he should not be prosecuted, but rather compensated as well as apologized to. These orders have also been disrespected by the Federal Government. May I also add that the High Court of Abia State and the Federal High Court have in different suits held that Kanu’s fundamental rights have been breached by the Federal Government and he should be compensated with an amount running into billions of naira as well as apologised to. All these have also not been obeyed by either the Federal Government or its agents.
Before the March 19 Federal High Court’s ruling on Nnamdi Kanu’s bail application, what were your expectations?
Before the ruling, we had expected that the Federal High Court would be guided by the Supreme Court’s judgment of December 15, 2023, which held that Nnamdi Kanu’s bail ought not to have been revoked in the first place and even went further to question the impartiality of Justice Binta Nyako. So, we felt disappointed that the highest court in the land was so grossly disregarded and disrespected.
What next step does the legal team of Nnamdi Kanu intend to take after the bail denial ruling?
Our client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has directed us to challenge the decision of the Federal High Court on Appeal.
Since you are one of those allowed to see Nnamdi Kanu once every week at the DSS detention facility, how has he been coping inside the place?
It has not being easy for Nnamdi Kanu, who has been grossly sick with congestive heart disorder, high blood pressure, low level of potassium and left ear infection; to which the medical doctors of the Federal Government agreed he needs a heart surgeon. You can imagine what it means to be in solitary confinement wearing only one attire since his abduction from Kenya. I believe that if Nigeria was a human being, she would have been imprisoned just like the bandits and Boko Haram members who kidnap people.
What does he spend most of his time doing daily?
He spends most of his time praying and reading the court processes we have filed in his cases to keep him mentally alert.
Would you say that your client is treated fairly by the DSS while in detention?
Nobody can be well treated in a detention facility because whatever he does or the food he eats are regulated. He is passing through severe mental torture and he is also going through a lot of emotional torture, having been denied access to his family for over three years. His other personal businesses have crumbled due to his abduction and detention. In detention, Nnamdi Kanu is entitled to N5,000 feeding allowance daily, which the DSS controls. So, in order for him to eat one good meal a day, he will usually forfeit some meals. There are times he takes only a bottle of soda to have enough money to eat a proper meal later in the day. He does not have facilities for exercise, except he walks around his tiny cell at the DSS headquarters. My client is also sometimes subjected to hearing the groaning of other inmates in their cells and this creates more than enough mental torture for him.
You are also defending some suspected IPOB members and on numerous occasions complained of the attitude of the Federal Government or its agents in disobeying court orders; can you cite some examples in this regards?
We have a case of Ikechukwu Henry versus the Nigerian Army and DSS presided over by Justice I. M. Buba (now retired) of the Federal High Court Enugu Division, of which the judgment was delivered on December 8, 2022, directing the Nigerian Army and DSS to unconditionally release Henry from their custody forthwith and directed them to pay him N100 million in damages, as well as tender an unreserved public apology in two national dallies. Till date, these orders have not been met and as a matter of fact, the Nigerian Army and DSS have not allowed the family and lawyer access to Henry. The same thing goes to the case of Ikechukwu Nwaite. In the case of the Federal Government versus Ikechukwu Nwaite, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja made an order directing the DSS to produce Nwaite before it on October 10, 2023, but till date, the DSS has failed to produce him before the court. The court in frustration struck out the charges filed against Nwaite and till date also he has no access to his family or lawyers. Another similar case is that of Emeka Ngonadi, where the court held the DSS liable for detaining him since 2021. Till date, an order that he should be compensated with N5 million and released forthwith is yet to be obeyed. In fact, since the judgment was delivered by Justice Maha of the Federal High Court, the DSS has ignored the judgment. Another set of disobeyed court orders are those of Emmason Roland, Edet E. Edet and Chukwuemeka Adjele Ezenwa, who were arrested from Port Harcourt in 2023 and detained without a single charge or order of court. They got judgment in their favour from the Federal High Court presided by Justice Josephine E. Enobie Obanor on January 29, 2024, who ordered that they be released unconditionally and immediately or be charged to court forthwith. The court also awarded them damages of N100 million jointly, for the breach of their fundamental human rights. We also have the case of Barr. Pius Awoke, Fortune Okezie, Chinedu Nwoba, Chinoso Onyeibe, Eze Joseph, Obonna David, Ajah Joseph, Igwe Johnson, Kenneth Ojima and Wisdom Ezike, who came to Abuja from Ebonyi State to witness the trial of Nnamdi Kanu on July 26, 2021. After the trial and on their way back, they were accosted by personnel of the Nigerian Navy at the Muritala Muhammed Bridge at Lokoja and handed over to the DSS. Since then nobody has seen or heard from them despite the judgment of Justice A.R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, delivered on June 14, 2023, which ordered the DSS and Federal Government to charge them before a court of law within one month of the judgment. There are so many of such cases in our office and in the chambers of all the lawyers of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB. There are a lot more that we haven’t taken to court to challenge their detention. You will agree that the constitution is being breached and the judiciary is being disregarded and disrespected and our sensibilities as human beings are also being insulted. Nigeria is consequently being taken more than 20 years backwards.
