FG’s Disobedience Of Court Order Discharging Kanu Will Frustrate Tinubu’s Foreign Investments Drive-Ejimakor

Those behind the detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu despite his acquittal and discharge by Nigeria’s Court of Appeal aim at fueling insecurity in Igboland.

Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is being held in the custody of the State Security Services in Abuja since 2021 when he was forcefully brought to Nigeria from Kenya.

He is facing charges on running a proscribed organization, treason and jumping bail. The Court of Appeal, in October last year, ruled that the manner Kanu was arrested in Kenya while travelling as a British citizen and brought to Nigeria amounted to extra-ordinary rendition. The court, while discharging him, awarded damages against the federal government.

Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s special counsel, weekend, specifically accused ex-president Muhammadu Buhari of ignoring the rule of law in handling Kanu’s matters, adding that it ‘is baffling’ that President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has toed the same line.

He said, “Buhari’s rendition/detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his violent suppression of dissent in Southeast were part of his broader agenda to fuel insecurity in Igboland. It’s baffling that a smarter President Tinubu has allowed this to continue by not releasing MNK. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Ejimakor further said Tinubu’s efforts for foreign assistance might be unsuccessful because the international community would perceive Nigeria as a country that does not respect ‘its own law’.

According to him, “As Tinubu throttles the globe for foreign assistance, he will be confronted with the perception that Nigeria is a nation that does not respect its own laws, its own courts and the laws of nations. The continued detention of Kanu is a case in point.”