IPOB, which said this on Thursday in a statement issued by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the Nigerian government deliberately refused to appear before the court on Thursday.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said that it has decided to vehemently reject further trial of its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu by the Nigerian government.
IPOB, which said this on Thursday in a statement issued by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the Nigerian government deliberately refused to appear before the court on Thursday.
Powerful in the statement said that IPOB stands by the judgment of the Appeal Court, which discharged and acquitted Kanu in 2023 and ordered that he should not be tried again in any Nigerian court.
The IPOB spokesperson said, “The Supreme Court Judges agreed with them but lacked the courage and integrity to uphold the Appeal Court judgment.”
He recalled that the Supreme Court Justices on December 15, 2023, sent Kanu's case back to the Abuja High Court and the “same High Court fixed February 8, 2024, to commence hearing on the matter”.
He said, “Sadly, the same Federal government that is persecuting Nnamdi Kanu is refusing to make an appearance at the same Abuja High Court hearing on the 8th of February, 2024.
“The refusal of the federal government to appear in the court on that day for continuation of their kangaroo trial is evident that they do not have a case against Nnamdi Kanu.”
Powerful stated, “IPOB leadership has reviewed the actions of the Nigerian Government and totally rejected further trial of our leader in their High Court.”
According to him, the “Federal Government of Nigeria, headed by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, knew why his Attorney General has scrubbed the commencement of their appearance for the botched February 8 Abuja High Court trial against Nnamdi Kanu”.
He continued, “They know very well that they have no case against him. They are just utilizing the weak and bastardized instrumentality of the law in Nigeria to detain and persecute him indefinitely.
“The wicked persecution of Nnamdi Kanu and other innocent IPOB members will continue to destroy Nigeria's image locally and internationally.”
IPOB therefore called on President Tinubu to release Kanu unconditionally “because self-determination is lawful domestically and internationally”.
IPOB pointed out that for almost three years since Kanu was rearrested in Kenya and renditioned to Nigeria, he “has again been remanded to solitary confinement in the Nigeria DSS dungeon, which adds up to 5 years in total”.
Powerful recounted that Kanu was granted bail by the Abuja High Court in 2017 but “while he was still enjoying his bail, the battalions of the Nigerian murderous military invaded his home on September 14, 2017, to assassinate him.
“Nnamdi Kanu escaped the assassination attempt, but unfortunately, more than 28 persons, including IPOB members and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's relatives, were assassinated in the process.
“Nnamdi Kanu fled outside Nigeria for safety since the same government that granted him bail was the same government that came to assassinate him.
“The Federal Government, not satisfied with Nnamdi Kanu being alive, used her secret security agents in collaboration with other International secret agents and went to Kenya kidnapped, tortured, and illegally detained him in a private residence for 8 days, and later extraordinarily renditioned him to Nigeria blindfolded.
“For almost 3 years, the Federal Government of Nigeria has illegally detained and persecuted him for championing the Biafra Self Determination movement.”
IPOB said that irrespective of “all the judiciary rigmarole, eventually, some courageous Honourable Justices in the Nigerian Appeal Court in Abuja on October 13, 2022, delivered a landmark Judgment that history will never forget.
“The Court, in its ruling, discharged and acquitted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of all the trumped-up charges based on the illegal abduction and extraordinary rendition by the Nigerian government.
“Instead of the Nigerian government to obey the ruling of the Court of Appeals, they decided to intimidate the honorable Justices by transferring them out of Abuja jurisdiction to different areas of the country”.
IPOB noted that the Supreme Court acknowledged that the “invasion of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's home in 2017 was an assassination attempt on his person, and the court acknowledged that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu did not jump bail.
“However, the Supreme Court Justices failed to make an appropriate order in line with their findings enumerated above.
“They also failed to deliver the appropriate judgment in line with the violation of the Extradition Order Act, which is an international crime. Instead, the Supreme Court Justices transferred the case back to the High Court”.
It accused the government of a lack of interest in any legal trial of Kanu.
It said, “They are only punishing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for daring to champion the Biafra Self Determination movement.
“In view of the above scenarios and other considerations, the IPOB family worldwide, therefore, rejects further court trial of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and demands his immediate and unconditional release as well as the release of all other innocent IPOB members in various detention facilities across Nigeria.”