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As December 15, 2023, date of the Supreme Court judgment on leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, draws near, human right activists have urged the apex court to free Kanu in the interest of rule of law.
The Federal Government is before the Supreme Court contesting the decision of the Court of Appeal, which quashed all charges slammed on Kanu. Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA) has, therefore, asked the apex court to leverage the judgment of the Appeal Court, which ordered the immediate release of Kanu.
The rights group recalled that the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had last year, upheld the appeal of the detained leader of the proscribed IPOB, discharging and acquitted the embattled leader of the proscribed group.
Kanu had, in his appeal dated April 29 and marked CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022 applied to be discharged and acquitted. He was first arraigned on December 23, 2015, and was later granted bail on April 25, 2017.
However, the Court of Appeal declared, as illegal and unlawful, the abduction of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria and quashed the entire terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
The appellate court held that the Federal Government breached all local and international laws in the forceful rendition of Kanu to Nigeria, thereby making the terrorism charges against him incompetent and unlawful.
HURIWA said it was such a massive disappointment then that the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, disrespected the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Kanu’s matter for almost a month before filing and obtaining a stay of execution of the judgment. It then proceeded to file an appeal at the Supreme Court.
MEANWHILE, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother of the IPOB leader has said that releasing Kanu, in compliance with several court judgments, would be the most cherished birthday package from President Bola Tinubu.
Kanu’s brother, who stated this in a chat with newsmen, said the continued incarceration of the IPOB leader had been a trauma to the family since the death of their parents three years ago.
Emmanuel, whose birthday was December 11, said that nothing makes sense to him anymore when he remembered that his brother had been subjected to pains since 2021 when he was returned to Nigeria.
