Nnamdi Kanu’s Lawyer Ejimakor Urges EU, ECOWAS To Intervene In IPOB Leader’s‘Worsening Health Conditions’

The special counsel to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, Wednesday, wrote to the head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria as well as the Economic Community of West African States seeking their intervention to enable his client seek specialized medical attention due to his ‘worsening health conditions.

Ejimakor stated this in a letter addressed to the bodies, a copy of which was obtained by THE WHISTLER.

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Aside the health demand, Kanu’s special counsel also urged the two regional bodies to prevail on Nigeria to obey all verdicts which acquitted and discharged Kanu of all the charges preferred against him by the federal government. They include the Opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which directed Kanu’s immediate release, and various court judgments, which the Nigerian government declined to obey.

According to Ejimakor, Kanu has ‘worsening health conditions’ that urgently needs an independent/specialized attention.

EU and ECOWAS should therefore urge Nigeria to accord Kanu ‘his human right to seek independent medical care for his ailments’, stated Ejimakor.

A part of the letter read, “Mr Kanu is gravely ill with three life-threatening conditions, namely a serious heart condition, hypertension and low potassium levels. All of these conditions demand specialist medical care and interventions that are not available at the facility where Mr Kanu is being detained. To date, the Government of Nigeria has refused every request for an independent/specialist medical intervention for Mr Kanu.”

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He recalled that the UN Opinion Group, on 20th July, 2022, recommended the immediate release of Kanu on the grounds that his agitation for the Sovereign State of Biafra is within the ambit of his universal rights.

Ejimakor also recalled the judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria of 26th October, 2022 by the Umuahia (Abia State) Division which discharged Kanu of jumping bail, adding that Nigeria has not apologized or paid the compensation, as directed by the court.

He also referred to 13th October 2022 when the Court of Appeal of Nigeria ruled that Kanu’s presence in Nigeria ‘is as a result of an impermissible extraordinary rendition’, and acquitted him of all criminal charges pending against him.

Again, he wrote, in March 2022, he, on behalf of Kanu, filed a suit before the Federal High Court of Nigeria seeking the enforcement of Mr Kanu’s fundamental rights, stemming from his unlawful expulsion/extraordinary rendition from Kenya, adding that the court, on 26th October, 2022, rendered a judgment in favour of Mr Kanu, condemning his ‘extraordinary rendition and the consequent torture and unlawful detention’. The court also awarded compensation of N500m to Kanu against the Government of Nigera, which has not yet been obeyed, Ejimakor stated in the letter.

Ejimakor, therefore, pleaded with both EU and ECOWAS to “Urge Nigeria to promptly comply with the said Opinion of the United Nations Working Group, particularly as it pertains to the unconditional release of Mr Kanu from detention, [and] urge Nigeria to promptly comply with the ratio of the said judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria (Umuahia) by restoring Mr Kanu to his status quo before 19th June, 2021 and otherwise making him whole as was ordered by the court.”

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Ejimakor also sought the intervention of EU and ECOWAS to influence Nigeria to comply with the letters and spirit of the United Nations Working Group Opinion, the judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria (Umuahia), the judgment of the High Court of Abia State and the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.

Aside that, Ejimakor sought their intervention in urging Nigeria ‘to cease and desist from further criminal prosecution of Mr Kanu and to instead constructively engage Mr Kanu in seeking a political solution to the Biafran question.”

Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is currently being detained at the headquarters of the Department of State Services after being arrested on June 19, 2021 in Kenya.

He was brought to Nigeria on 27th June, 2021. He is being tried for allegedly running a proscribed group, jumping bail in 2017, and treason.

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