3rd May 2024
Worried by the continued detention and deteriorating health condition of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent, have written to Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, pleading for his release.
The letter which was signed by Chief (Dr) Sylvester Onyia, and Dr Godson Obiagwu, AVID president, and secretary respectively, urged the presiding judge to obey the Supreme Court judgment on Kanu, who they described as prisoner of conscience.
This is coming less than one week after IPOB accused the judge of bias and asked her to hands off Kanu’s trial.
The US military veterans expressed worry over the Judge’s refusal to grant Kanu’s bail application and plea to be transferred to the Correctional Centre, instead of the solitary confinement at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services DSS where he has been held since June 2021, following his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
The letter reads in part: “The judge’s refusal to comply with the Supreme Court judgment and the lack of willingness to interpret the constitution fairly are truly embarrassing and humiliating for the judicial system, Nigeria, and the whole world.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu should have been taken to a correctional center, not kept in a federal government privately owned detention center where his conversations with his lawyers and family members are always monitored.
“The judge’s bias will not be looked upon favorably in history. Your actions show that you are following a script. Remember that you have no jurisdiction over this case. You have allowed the federal government to bring forth all sorts of charges against him, despite knowing he is innocent.
“The same prisoner was unjustly arrested and even after fleeing his home due to government invasion, he continues to face unjust imprisonment. His parents were also subjected to physical, emotional, and mental torture leading to their deaths. Injustice to Mr. Kanu is injustice everywhere”.
A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, had last year discharged Kanu of all terrorism count-charge against him by the Federal Government, and ordered his immediate and unconditional release.
The Federal Government appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court which held that Kanu’s bail application should not be revoked.
