The leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra, Nnamdi
Kanu, has blamed President
Muhammadu Buhari for his
continued detention since last
October.
Mr. Kanu is accused, along
with two others, Benjamin
Madubgwu and James
Nwawuisi, of treason.
He has been in the custody of
the State Security Service
since he was arrested on
Addressing journalists in
Abuja on Thursday, Mr.
Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi
Ejiofor, said President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
comments have contributed
to Mr. Kanu being denied
bail by the same court that
granted him bail in
December 2015.
“After Kanu was granted bail
on December 17, the
president was heard saying at
the presidential media chart
that he will not leave the
prison cell, for any reason.
That bail was made known to
Federal Government on 18th
December 2015 but they
failed to grant the bail,” the
lawyer said.
“Only few days ago, he also
went into the issue of
whether or not Mr. Kanu
should be granted bail when
he visited Katsina.
“Having taken him to the
court, they should allow the
court of law to determine the
matter,” Mr. Ejiofor stated.
He added that the matter
which has been taken before
the Community Court of
Justice of the Economic
Community of West Africa,
ECOWAS, is aimed at
addressing the abuse of Mr.
Kanu’s rights.
Citing article 9 (2) and (3) of the
Community Court of Justice Act, Mr.
Ejiofor said his client reserves the right
to seek redress where an abuse of
fundamental rights has been detected at
any stage of a case already in a federal
court of law.
“Once there is violation of human rights,
the ECOWAS court has to prevail,” he
said.
Also speaking, a member of Mr. Kanu’s
legal team, Okere Kingdom, said IPOB
has filed a complain at the community
court to seek damages for the lives of
those lost during rallies by its members,
after they were attacked by military
men.
“On February 19, 2016 officers from the
Nigerian Military killed over 50
harmless members of IPOB who gathered
in Aba, Abia state, in secondary school to
pray for their leader whose trial was
scheduled to come up on that day.
“This is in addition to about 13 others
during a similar gathering,” said Mr.
Kingdom.
He said IPOB has launched a formal
complaint for damages and N100 million
to be paid to each family of deceased
IPOB members while N50 million
damages is demanded for injured
members of the group.
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