Nnamdi Kanu alerts public on alleged executive, judicial fraud against him

From Okey Sampson, Umuahia

The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has accused the executive and judiciary of perpetrating fraud against him since his extraordinary rendition in 2021.

In the light of this, Kanu has therefore vowed not to make himself available again to be tried by any judge or court without the requisite jurisdiction.

Kanu in an open letter he personally signed, said, “But let me say this for the world to know, I will not succumb to any trial conducted by any judge or court whose jurisdiction does not pass constitutional muster. Not now, not ever.

“Be that as it may, if it will take the rest of my life in detention to produce me before a proper and impartial court, so be it.”

Kanu in cataloging his ordeal in the past years, stated, “I have been compelled by the events of the past few days to take the unusual step of writing this Open Letter for the singular purpose of calling the attention of the general public to the serial executive and judicial fraud being perpetrated against me since my extraordinary rendition in 2021.

“In a judgment entered on 1st March 2017, the Federal High Court Abuja ruled that the “IPOB is not an unlawful group”. At the time, it received widespread publicity which can be verified from: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/kanu-ipob-not-unlawful-group-court/amp/. This landmark ruling (made by the court before it turned unjust) emanated in a criminal proceedings that required “proof beyond reasonable doubt” and in which the federal government and my humble self presented our respective cases. Alas! Instead of the federal government to go on appeal as the law mandated (if they are dissatisfied with the judgment), the former Attorney-General (Abubakar Malami) went behind closed doors with a letter signed by late Abba Kyari and got IPOB proscribed/tagged a terrorist group in an ex parte proceedings that conducted without notice to me or to the IPOB.

“This abominable incident was the earliest sign yet that the government and its judiciary have struck an unholy and fraudulent alliance to deny me my rights and thereby imperil the life and liberty of millions who identity with IPOB.”

Going further, Kanu wrote, “On 26th October 2022, a Federal High Court declared my extraordinary rendition and detention as unconstitutional, stating that: ‘the manner of arrest and detention of the Applicant (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) in Kenya, his continued detention in Abuja, his subjection to physical and mental trauma by the Respondents, the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to the Applicant amounts to a brazen violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to dignity of his person and threat to life under Section 34 (1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)’.

“The Court further ordered the federal government to apologize to me and pay me compensation. In a responsible society and well-ordered, run by a responsible government, this judgment is sufficient to have ended my lengthy detention and encourage the federal government to constructively engage me on the issue of the self-determination agitation that triggered this whole saga.

“Pedal back to 13th October 2022 when the Court of Appeal held that: “The Courts must never shy away from calling the executive to order when they resort to acts of “executive lawlessness”. The duty of the Courts is to maintain a balance between ensuring that law and order is obeyed and the protection of the individual from oppressive actions by the executive. By the forcible abduction and extraordinary rendition of the Appellant (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) from Kenya to this country on the 27th day of June 2021, in violation of international and state laws, the lower Court or indeed any Court in this country is divested of jurisdiction to entertain charges against the Appellant’.

“Despite the clarity of this judgment and its comportment with reason, the federal government refused to release me from detention while it went behind closed doors and connived with three other justices of the court of appeal who fraudulently and swiftly sat on appeal over the judgment and practically destroyed it by issuing what they termed “a stay of execution”.

“One may then ask: Is it not abominable for a court to stay a judgment the government already disobeyed? In a plethora of cases, the Supreme Court has held that anybody who disobeys a related court order cannot be given any judicial relief until such order is obeyed. This is a sound reasoning that applied we to everybody but is fraudulently overlooked when it comes to my case.”

Citing other instances where he said his rights have been impugned by the court trying his case, he decided on September 24, last year to ask the judge to recluse herself.

Kanu said it was surprising instead of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to appeal against the judge’s decision, instead ordered the judge to continue in a case she no longer has jurisdiction.

Kanu said he wouldn’t mind even if it will take the rest of his life in detention for him to be produced before a proper and impartial court.