President Muhammadu Buhari has been chastised for the continued arrest of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), by the Federal Government.
Despite the Court of Appeal’s decision to release the IPOB leader, the Buhari administration stayed firm.
It later petitioned the same court for a stay of execution.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled that the Federal Government violated all local and international laws by extraditing Kanu to Nigeria, rendering the terrorism allegations against him ineffective and illegitimate.
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However, the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami, had maintained that Kanu would not be released notwithstanding the court order, reiterating that the Federal Government would not allow Kanu to be released.
This is despite the fact that Ohanaeze Ndigbo, senior statesmen such as former Anambra State Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife, the late Mbazuruike Amaechi, and Chief Edwin Clark, among others, have called for adherence to the court order.
Some rights organizations, including the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), have also chastised the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, over the incident.
Malami’s efforts, according to the group, are severely dragging Nigeria into a regional and international abyss of derision, with far-reaching ramifications for the country’s socioeconomic development, regional and international human rights, rule of law, and democracy ratings.
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Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, informed Buhari that continuing to detain Kanu would be considered kidnapping and would exacerbate other forms of violence in the South East.
HURIWA further accused Malami of acting out the script of Miyetti Allah Cattle dealers, urging that Buhari cease playing the “poison Northern ethnic card” and obey the court’s decision to release the IPOB leader.
“Any further detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu would amount to active hostage taking and an outright criminal case of kidnapping which is actionable. We wonder why a lawyer of Malami’s illustrious status adorning the title of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria is now speaking like a one hundred-level law student of one road-side law faculty in a corner of Nigeria,” Onwubiko said.
He added that, “The Federal Government had rushed to the Appeal Court after the Federal Attorney General and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami had used media platforms to impugn and discredit the panellists who freed Kanu.”
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Many other people still believe that Kanu’s release would restore peace in the South-East.
“In other democracies, when a court gives its ruling, the government or whoever it affects follows it up immediately. But that’s not the case in Nigeria. One thing the Buhari government is known for is its total disobedience to the rule of law. A court gave an order but instead of obeying the court ruling, they’re busy transferring the judges that gave the ruling and installed those that will do their bidding,” a security expert and senior lecturer in one of the Federal Universities told Newsmen.
“People living and doing businesses in the South East are forced to sit at home every Monday and I don’t how this is helping Malami and the Buhari government.
“But just as it has been said, it appears this government does not want peace in the South East. It’s looking like they want the region to be destroyed. If that’s not the case, tell me why Nnamdi Kanu has been detained despite the court order.
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“I know the APC and some people in the Buhari government want to use the situation to their own advantage. The plan is to keep the South East in crisis with the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu so that the people would be scared to come out to cast their votes or participate fuller in the election activities. They know that the South East is the stronghold of the Labour Party candidate, Mr. Peter Obi,” he added.
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