Bruce Fein, the international counsel for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has called on the United Nations, European Commission, Commonwealth of Nations and African Union to investigate Nigeria’s eligibility to ‘sit among the family of civilized nations’.
Fein described Nigeria as a lawless nation and urged the UN, Commonwealth of Nations and AU to reconsider Nigeria’s membership.
The lawyer said this in a letter titled ‘Re: Nigeria’s incorrigible lawlessness-Suspension or expulsion from international bodies,’ and dated January 27, 2024, which was addressed to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres; European Commission President, Ursula Gertrude von der Leyen; King Charles III and the AU Chairperson, Azoli Assoumai.
He said Nigeria’s contempt for the rule of law militates against its eligibility to sit among civilized nations.
In his letter, Fein lamented that Kanu “is currently arbitrarily detained in a Nigerian dungeon in precarious health and denied access to necessary medical care”.
He said, “The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared on July 20, 2022, that Mr. Kanu’s detention was in violation of sixteen (16) jus cogens international human rights covenants. It ordered his immediate and unconditional release and reparations. Nigeria has sneered at and disrespected the Working Group’s order for more than 18 months.
“On October 1, 2020, five United Nations Human Rights experts lettered Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari protesting the summary listing of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), as a terrorist organization. Its consensus leader is Mr. Kanu.
“President Buhari was called on to reconsider the listing, in part because peaceful advocacy for an independent Biafra is protected speech under international law. President Buhari ignored the letter. (Nigeria, uniquely in the world, has banned IPOB as a terrorist organization despite its furious lobbying).
“On November 10, 1995, Nigeria hanged Nobel Prize nominee Ken Saro-Wiwa despite pleas from multiple foreign governments and human rights groups.
“The current Nigerian Constitution was drafted in secrecy by a military dictator and has never been approved by the people of Nigeria in a referendum or otherwise. It commands no legal standing.
“Nigeria has never prosecuted any person for murdering a Biafran during its 64 years of existence since independence in 1960. In the eyes of Nigeria, Biafrans are sub-human who may be killed or plundered with impunity. Nigeria intentionally starved millions of civilians during the 1967-1970 Biafran Civil War, a war crime.
“On December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Nigeria gave the green light to the prosecution of evidence-free charges against Mr. Kanu despite acknowledging that the criminal case had been born of Nigeria’s kidnapping and extraordinary rendition of the Defendant from Kenya in June 2021in violation of jus cogens principles of international law; and the Nigerian government’s attempted assassination of Mr. Kanu in September 2017.
“The Supreme Court of Nigeria held that the Nigerian government’s criminality can operate as a profit center or mafia without interference by Nigerian courts; and, that Nigeria can kidnap and subject to extraordinary rendition any person in any country in the world without worrying about criminal prosecution in Nigerian courts.”
According to Fein, “no country in the world is safe from Nigeria’s trademark lawlessness”.
He said, “It is a threat to international peace and security under the United Nations Charter by any yardstick.
“No Nigerian official has been either arrested or charged for Nigeria’s crimes against Mr. Kanu. None ever will absent international sanctions.
“Wake up. Nigeria is an outlaw nation.
“I urge your organizations to initiate formal investigations into Nigeria’s eligibility to sit among the family of civilized nations aspiring to a rule-based international order. As amplified above, credible evidence in the public domain of Nigeria’s contempt for the rule of law militates against Nigeria’s eligibility.
“I note that the United Nations suspended South Africa for its policy of apartheid in 1974. The African Union suspended Sudan in 2021 over a military coup. The Commonwealth suspended Nigeria in 1995 over the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa.
“In closing, I cannot improve on Amos 5: 24: ‘Let justice roll down like waters; and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."