An Abuja-based human rights lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, says the Federal Government is not acting in the good interest of Nigeria by filing fresh terrorism charges against the embattled leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Federal Government filed fresh terrorism charges against Kanu on the eve of his trial before Justice Binta Nyako at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In the amended process it filed before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the government increased the counts in the initial charge it preferred against Kanu from seven to 15.
Reacting, Olajengbesi, in a statement, said, “As far as legacies go, the greatest tragedy of the Major General Muhammadu Buhari regime would be its failure to equalise access for all Nigerians across tribe or religion leading on to one of the most widespread cries for secession which began in the east and spread to the west and middle belt regions of the country.
“In fact, the Buhari led Federal Government’s decision to press fresh terrorism charges against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is one such action than typifies Buhari’s inability to put the interests of such a diverse nation first and respect the sensibilities of a fragile nation grasping for survival.”
Continuing, the lawyer said, “In micromanaging Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s trial with badly hidden spite and resentment while appearing aloof and giving fake assurances to Mazi Kanu’s elders and kinsmen who approached him on behalf of the latter, President Buhari is dispensing with the wisdom of the opportunity to reconcile the grievances of the east and demonstrating a resolve to carry the region along.
“It is such a colossal waste of tax-payers money and an aggravation of the justice system for a predetermined end to continue to invent and re-invent grievances in the form of fresh charges against just one man who presents the opportunity for this administration to correct the context of their disregard for the Igbos in power contemplations.”
The PUNCH had earlier reported that some respected Igbo elders led by Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, visited the President in Aso Rock and requested the unconditional release of the detained secessionist leader.
During the visit on November 19, 2021, Buhari had told them he would not want to interfere in the running of the judiciary but said he would consider their demand though “a heavy one.”
But during a recent interview in January 2022, Buhari said he won’t heed the request to release Kanu, adding that the IPOB leader should defend himself in court.
Kanu, 54 from Abia State was first arrested in 2017 for demanding the secession of the South-East zone from the Nigerian State.
However, he jumped bail in June 2018 before leaving for the United Kingdom, though he said that he fled because his life was no longer safe in Nigeria.
After about three years abroad, Malami at a press briefing in Abuja on June 29, 2021, announced that the IPOB leader was re-arrested in a foreign country and extradited to Nigeria though Kanu’s lawyers said he was re-arrested in Kenya and whisked to Nigeria.
Upon his re-arrest in June 2021, Kanu was re-arraigned before Justice Binta Nyako for terrorism-related charges brought against him by the AGF office.
Kanu has since been remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services in Abuja while his trial continued on January 18, 2022.
PUNCH
