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•Queries Supreme Court’s silence over appeal
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, would not abandon the agitation for Biafra nation despite his continued incarceration by the Department of State Security’s (DSS).
Spokesperson of the group, Emma Powerful, in a statement, yesterdays, also queried the silence of the Supreme Court in Kanu’s appeal.
“We want the Supreme Court justices of Nigeria and British government to understand that neither Mazi Nnamdi Kanu nor IPOB will back down on the struggle for Biafra referendum and independence. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is an oracle that Biafrans revere and cannot and will not be traded or exchanged for anything in this world. We have witnessed the Supreme Court of Nigeria giving accelerated hearings to political cases brought before them but have kept mute over the human right abuse of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is illegally detained at the DSS solitary confinement for almost two years now.
“The continuous silence and refusal of the justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to set a date of hearing on the appeals brought before them by the Federal Government against the discharge and acquittal order from the Abuja Appeal Court has shown that the apex court is not neutral in this case.”
Powerful described Kanu as a prisoner of conscience who was abducted and tortured in Kenya before being renditioned to Nigeria by the country’s secret security agents.
“On October 13, 2023, the Abuja Appeal Court discharged and acquitted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and ordered the Nigeria government to pay him adequate compensation. Instead of releasing MNK as ordered by the Appeal Court, the Federal Government ran to the Supreme Court to frustrate the Appeal Court orders and appealed the case. Over 150 days after this appeal was lodged, the apex court that ought to be the last hope of a common man has maintained silence thereby giving the Nigeria government the opportunity to continue the torture and illegal detention of Kanu in DSS solitary confinement. The subversion of law and justice in the continuing persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, irrespective of his failing health condition, is regrettable, unfortunate, and in clear violations of his fundamental human rights according to the Nigeria Constitution and international laws.
“On the other hand, the criminal silence of the British government and the Commonwealth Office to use their diplomatic offices to demand for the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen, as ordered by the Appeal Court is degrading to British global influence.
“Why will Britain and the Commonwealth Office allow their citizen to be in detention without charge? Where in the world has that happened before? Only in the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because of the Nigeria government’s hatred of Ndigbo and of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in particular.
“If the British government abandoned her citizen who was abducted and extraordinarily renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria because of their vested interest in Ala Igbo’s oil and gas resources, they should consider that the same resources will still be available when Biafra becomes a nation of it’s own. This development should also inform Biafrans in the UK who have been granted British citizenship and British passport to remember that Britain will never protect you as their citizen in time of need,” Powerful said.
