*Demands immediate withdrawal of charges
*As IPOB berates Umahi over
attack on Ebonyi traders
Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday,
tackled the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for declaring the Biafran
agitation
unconstitutional.
Kanu, in a world press conference he held through his team of lawyers in
Abuja, maintained that Osinbajo’s view about Biafra was “patently misconceived
and inherently faulty,” despite his rank as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. In a
statement by his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu insisted that “extra
judicial remarks” Osinbajo made before the Igbo Council of Traditional Rulers,
in reference to Biafran agitation, was offensive to section 2 of the 1999
Constitution, as amended. The statement read in part: “We are presently
drifting into the narrative that had hitherto kept our client in unlawful
incarceration for 18 months, in clear breach of positive orders of court that
directed for his unconditional release. Unhealthy interference by the executive
arm in the matter before the court, vide pronouncements capable of putting
fears in the court is a case in point.
“This is evident in the recent extra
judicial remarks by the Acting President, clearly contained in his presentation
before the Igbo Council of Traditional Rulers, that the agitation for Biafra is
unconstitutional as it offends section 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, 2011, and consequent threat of arrest
and imprisonment of those that exercise their unquestionable and inalienable
rights to self determination. “This declaration is respectfully considered as
not only provocative and unacceptable, but a clear case of undue interference
with judicial process, which have the capacity of distorting the mindset of the
judicial officer in charge of client’s
case. “It is important to remind the Acting President that our client’s present
political trial originated from his legitimate exercise of his constitutionally
guaranteed rights to self determination as clearly provided for under extant
laws, and international instruments/covenants.
“It is, therefore, reasonably
expected that any of such extra judicial remarks should not emanate from the
revered office of the Acting President. “With due reverence to the Acting
President, and his rank as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, we deem it obligatory
to state the correct position of the law as it relates to his faulty position.
“We observed most respectfully that the learned silk made this remark in direct
response to quit notice threats and ultimatum handed down to Igbo living in the
northern part of the country, by a faceless and uninformed group, going by the
name of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum.
“But it must be noted very humbly that
it is a mistake to equate the lawful and legitimate aspirations and agitations
for Biafra with the unlawful, illegal and illegitimate quit notice, and threat
given to the Igbo to leave the North by
this group.
“We submit most humbly that the right to self determination,
recognizable under various instruments, which Nigeria is a party to, is clearly provided for under
Article 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification
and Enforcement) ( Act Cap 10) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.” Besides,
Ejiofor, who briefed newsmen alongside counsel to Kanu’s co-defendants,
Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawuisi and Bright Chimezie,
accused the Federal Government of deliberately frustrating full-blown hearing
on the treasonable felony charge against the defendants.
Consequently, Kanu and
his co-defendants, demanded an immediate withdrawal of the amended five-count
charge against them, saying they have not committed any offence that is known
to law. IPOB berates Umahi for attacking traders in Ebonyi Also, yesterday,
IPOB and its leadership worldwide have
berated Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State for allegedly unleashing his
henchmen to invade Abakaliki Central Market to attack the traders there for the
rousing welcome they accorded Kanu, when he visited the state. IPOB in a
statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, said:
“The governor exhibited the highest level of rascality by instructing his
henchmen and miscreants to attack the
innocent traders who turned out en masse to welcome their leader in Abakaliki,
the Ebonyi State capital. IPOB also noted that Ebonyi is not the first state to
grant Kanu a rapturous welcome and neither will it be the last, and, therefore,
warned that such infantile and envious clampdown on traders and IPOB officers
in Ebonyi State will hasten Umahi’s
return into political oblivion. “The governor should know that at this moment,
IPOB is without doubt the largest and most potent freedom fighting outfit
anywhere in the whole world. We are firmly entrenched in Ebonyi State and we
want to warn him that picking a fight with IPOB will bring about his downfall;
we can pull him down with our supporters by just word of mouth, not violence.
He should be warned.”
“We also want to tell him that should he wish to continue
serving his Northern political masters, he should relocate to Sokoto because
Ebonyi State is one of the strongest states in Biafran land, where the citizens
are seriously determined to restore Biafra and Governor David Umahi cannot
quench the desire of Ebonyi people in this regard, rather Ebonyi people are
ready to dump him because of attacks against IPOB and its leadership.
“This
Governor David Nweze Umahi of Ebonyi State, ordered his henchmen to invade the
Abakaliki Central Market yesterday to terrorize traders, by destroying their
goods and properties worth millions of naira as punishment for shutting down
their businesses in order to come out enemas to welcome our leader Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu, what a jealous act” “That attack directed by Governor Umahi was wholly
barbaric and uncivilized behavior, coming from an elected public officer of his
caliber, it is indicative of the moral decay at the heart and height of
governance in Nigeria especially, Ebonyi State that has not witnessed any
meaningful development, since the inception of this administration that is only
interested in protecting the Fulani herdsmen that has been attacking his state.
“That the Governor sought to belittle his office by ordering the unwarranted
and unprovoked attack on innocent traders, purely demonstrate his slavish
loyalty to his Hausa Fulani masters, and confirms the widely held view that
South East Governors, more than Governors of other geo-political zone, are
political quislings at the beck and call of the Arewa North.
“They have no mind
of their own and therefore, are ready and will do anything to please their
Northern masters, even if it means killing their own people, what a shame of
governance in this part of the world.
“Political office holders like Governor
Umahi, and other who owe their political survival to Hausa Fulani patronage are
driven by reactionary tendencies such as petty jealousy and not deep
ideological conviction in themselves and that is why they have time to attack
issues concerning IPOB.” Vanguard reported
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