Nigeria Duty-Bound To Obey UN Working Group’s Decision On Nnamdi Kanu – Ejimakor

Nigeria is duty-bound to implement the order of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which ordered the immediate release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu’s special counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, stated this in an interview with THE WHISTLER in Enugu on Thursday.

In his view, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a quasi-judicial body that has a subsisting legal mandate of the United Nations to consider and adjudicate human rights petitions against member nations of the world body.

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, is standing trial before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for allegedly running a proscribed organisation, jumping bail and treason.

Bruce Fein, Kanu’s international counsel, last week, tweeted that the UN had ordered Nigeria to release Kanu from the custody of the DSS in Abuja.

Barr Ejimakor clarified that, “Its (UNs’) rulings or decisions (diplomatically called Opinions), such as was recently issued in favour of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, are legally binding on Nigeria on myriad grounds, including the fact that the decision is based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both of which Nigeria ratified several decades ago.

“Ratification is a means by which a nation makes itself subject to international laws and treaties. And by the provisions of Section 12 of the Nigerian Constitution and a plethora of decisions by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, ratification makes Nigeria subject to whatever it ratified.”

He said the UN Working Group, which gave the order, is an integral arm of the United Nations Human Rights Council which has the broader UN mandate to determine human rights issues emanating from member nations of the UN.

Nigeria, Ejimakor said, being a member of the United Nations, ‘is subject to decisions issuing from these UN bodies’.

It would be recalled that the UN body recently considered Nnamdi Kanu’s matter and held that “The removal of Mr Kanu from Kenya amounted to extraordinary rendition”.

UN stated that, “Mr Kanu’s arrest and transfer to Nigeria lacked a legal basis and due process of law, in violation of article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 9 of the Covenant.

“The appropriate remedy would be for the Government of Nigeria to release Mr Kanu immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation in accordance with international law.”

On the implications of Nigeria refusing to obey the order, Ejimakor said, “Nigeria is duty-bound to implement this decision in its letters and spirit. And it is expected to do so promptly and to, within six months, file a formal report of its implementation with the United Nations.”