If the present posture of the Nigerian authorities is something to go by, in direction of the outcry for the discharge of Nnamdi Kanu, the founder and chief of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), then plights, fears and despair of Southeast residents and Ndigbo is way from over.
This is as a result of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration has seemingly adopted a silent and detached stance amid continued appeals and violent protests in the Southeast for the discharge of Kanu, who has been in detention as a prisoner of conscience since June 2021.
Kanu’s detention got here after his extraordinary rendition from Kenya. He was then thrown into the Department of State Services (DSS) cell in the course of the former Muhammadu Buhari presidency.
According to the then Buhari authorities, Kanu was arrested overseas and introduced again to reply for a 15-count terrorism-related costs. And whereas many, particularly critics applauded the federal government’s transfer, claiming that Kanu’s rhetoric exacerbates ethnic tensions and threatens nationwide unity, some others argued that the IPOB chief was solely championing the rights of the marginalised Igbo individuals and calling consideration to the perceived injustices they face inside Nigeria.
Amid the polarised debate on the detention of Nnamdi Kanu, a long-drawn authorized tussle ensued between the IPOB chief’s authorized staff and the federal authorities of Nigeria.
And in October 2022, the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court discharged and ordered the discharge of Kanu, citing that the federal government lacked jurisdiction to prosecute the IPOB resulting from a defective extradition course of.
However, the federal government overtly rejected the ruling and bought the Appeal Court to reverse itself by issuing a stay-of-execution order on its judgement.
Nnamdi Kanu has been detained for 2 years, and the FG seems uncommitted to bringing the IPOB founder’s case to a swift conclusion.
Prominent Igbo leaders and international organisations had pleaded with the federal government to free Kanu, however their cries went unanswered.
This scenario additional fueled cries and beliefs of segregation in opposition to the Igbos underneath the then Buhari-administration. And this introduced double jeopardy in the southeast, as armed gangs unleashed mayhem on authorities officers and enthroned terror upon harmless residents by way of enforced routine sit-at-home orders.
Media Talk Africa stories that these wanton carnages have grounded financial, political and social actions in the area.
However, the arrival of the Tinubu authorities on May 29, 2023, has not solely ignited hope that the Igbos can be handled pretty by his authorities, but in addition renewed calls and pressures for Nnamdi Kanu’s launch.
Barely one month into his administration, Tinubu has had conversions with a number of involved teams such as Governors Charles Soludo of Anambra State and Peter Mbah of Enugu State, plus the President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo on the discharge of Nnamdi Kanu.
Last week, Governor Mbah after a closed-door assembly with the President in Abuja, disclosed that he urged President Tinubu to provide utmost consideration in direction of extending a hand of fellowship to the South-East individuals by way of the discharge of Kanu.
Mbah stated that the South East recognized with President Tinubu’s promise that he’ll engender nationwide therapeutic and serve the nation with compassion.
“So, we’ve basically informed him that this would serve as a pointer to his administration’s extension of hands of fellowship,” the Governor stated.
In the identical vein, retired military officer Hassan Stan-Labo, a safety professional, on Wednesday, joined the raging calls on President Tinubu to launch Kanu to finish rising insecurity in the southeast.
Stan-Labo throughout an interview warned that the continued detention of Kanu will make him a hero.
“Frankly speaking, further incarceration of Kanu will only make him more and more relevant, only heightens the hero worship over him,” he stated.
Also, Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, urged Tinubu to not behave like his predecessor who took requires self-determination as a private vendetta in opposition to Kanu.
Ejimakor in a tweet he made on Wednesday, stated Kanu’s self-determination was in opposition to the Nigerian State and never Tinubu.
“The demand for self-determination is not personal. It is a demand on the Nigerian State, not against its President. It was Buhari that took it personally to the point that he killed & renditioned for it. President Tinubu should be smart enough not to repeat the same mistake. RONU.
“If you are offended by INJUSTICE, regardless of your tribal affiliation, raise your voice for the immediate release of MAZI NNAMDI KANU and all prisoners of conscience President Tinubu (@officialABAT) inherited from Buhari. Your silence is not golden. Please speak up! Thank you,” Ejimakor’s tweet learn.
Amidst the inflow of appeals on Tinubu, tough-talking Finland-based Biafra agitator, and self-acclaimed disciple of Kanu, Simon Ekpa dismissed strikes by southeast governors to finish the routine Monday sit-at-home and ordered a one-week lockdown of the southeast area to protest the IPOB chief’s continued detention.
And even with the cruel consequence of those lockdowns on residents, Ekpa and his supporters insist on it and would go on a warpath with anybody that dissuades individuals from obeying the sit-at-home order.
The seven-day lockdown which entered Day-4 on Thursday is producing apprehension in the complete southeast. On Tuesday, communities in Ebonyi State had been thrown into turmoil as armed hoodlums who had been reportedly imposing the sit-at-home order, set ablaze a police van at Ukwagba village and shot sporadically to scare residents away from ever popping out.
The hoodlums stormed the Ukwagba police checkpoint and advised officers to vacate, and thereafter burnt the police van. They additionally stormed the Ishieke police checkpoint and shot sporadically which made law enforcement officials in the world scamper for his or her lives.
Furthermore, the hoodlums allegedly raided the Afiaohu market situated alongside Abakaliki/Enugu Express and allegedly shot into the air to power enterprise house owners in the market to flee, leaving their wares behind.
Again on Wednesday in Enugu state, the residents had been thrown into critical pressure and worry as unknown gunmen reportedly moved round many elements of the State to implement the one-week sit-at-home declared by Ekpa.
Media Talk Africa reported that the gunmen, who had their faces coated with masks, drove in a Siena car, as effectively as tricycles, taking pictures sporadically on the New Market axis of the State, Artisan, Emene, New Haven, Abakpa, Agbani Road and NOWAS.
Imo State has not been not noted, with the gunmen additionally storming a number of locations to power the individuals again to their properties.
With all of the carnage, protests in the southeast, plus passionate appeals for Kanu’s launch, the Nigerian authorities’s physique language seems unperturbed, as President Tinubu has maintained sealed lips to the ranging clamours. And this has left Nigerians proffering extra the explanation why the MNK must be launched.
For Monday Ubani, Chairman, Section of Public Interest and Development (SPIDEL) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the continued detention of MNK shouldn’t be solely worrisome however a transparent indication that judges are now not in the problems of liberty of residents.
“Issue of freedom of an individual is very important. Maybe I will recommend that some of our justices should go to prison and spend one month, and lose their freedom, to appreciate why enforcement of fundamental human rights of an individual should be taken seriously,” Ubani advised Media Talk Africa.
He added that, “There was a time when you filed a fundamental human rights suit and got an expeditious hearing. But now you file a fundamental right matter or even bail application, the person has not been convicted and he is there for months. And there is no interest by justices to grant freedom to someone who has not been convicted.
“Nnamdi Kanu has been in prison for almost two years now. And there is no hurry on the part of judges to ensure that this matter is handled.
“So I join in appealing to the President to come up with a political solution and hand over Nnamdi Kanu to Igbo leaders and stakeholders in the Southeast with an agreement that Nnamdi Kanu should maintain the peace. I believe that Nnamdi Kanu has learnt his lesson.
“We need to bring back sanity in the southeast because some criminals are using this opportunity of Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration to cause havoc in the eastern region citing Kanu’s incarceration as the reason.
“One of the ways to solve this is to release Kanu so we can now get the criminals causing the havoc in the southeast. I think that the President, for the sake of reconciling and healing Nigeria’s wounds, let him release MNK and find a political solution to this problem rather than allow the young man to linger in prison, even when he has not been found culpable. So the judiciary has to live up to expectation,” Ubani stated.
Also, Sonnie Ekwowusi, a authorized practitioner and Chairman, of the Human Rights Committee of the African Bar Association, admonished President Tinubu to curb the cries of discontent and secession of any area in Nigeria with good governance.
“People and groups agitate for the breakup of Nigeria because of injustices. Injustice angers people and makes them want to go their separate ways, as you can see in the case of MNK who call for self-determination for the southeast region, but ended up being clamped in prison by the Buhari government.
“Self-determination is recognised in the African Charter. MNK did not commit any crime that is worse than what the Fulani herdsmen have been doing in various parts of the country. Yet nobody has prosecuted the Fulani herdsmen.
“People are calling on the Tinubu government to show inclusion, balance and a no-victor-no-vanquish posture by first releasing Kanu.
“The President should also ensure true federalism in Nigeria. He should give every region a sense of belonging. And with these, more Nigerians will be at peace with his government,” Ekwowusi added.
