Biafra news : Free Nnamdi Kanu, even if it doesn’t make legal sense – Actor Bishop Umoh tells Tinubu govt

 

Popular Nollywood actor, Ime Bishop Umoh, a.k.a. Okon Lagos,

 has called on the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

He made the call in a recent episode of The Clarity Zone podcast, 

emphasising that the IPOB leader should be released in the interest of peace and national reconciliation, even if it doesn’t make legal sense.

He claimed that pardoning Kanu would be morally right,

 arguing that the IPOB leader’s agitation for Biafra’s secession was emotional and fuelled by the perceived marginalisation of the Igbos in Nigeria.

I am one million percent of the opinion that Nnamdi Kanu should be freed.

 Free him. It may not make legal sense depending on what they have claimed, 

that the evidences that have been put in the fore of the ‘crimes’ he has committed.

It [freeing Kanu] doesn’t need to make legal sense, but it makes moral common sense,” Umoh claimed.

His guest, Nedu Wazobia, asked: “How do you mean by it makes moral common sense?

Umoh replied: “It is morally right. Of course, he is a human being and he took emotional decisions, and emotional decisions are not right decisions.

 He felt that his people were being marginalised and he started agitating for Biafra’s secession.

Biafra news. : Nnamdi Kanu’s trial, affront to African Charter on Human, Peoples’ Rights – Lawyer, Ifedi

 

A legal practitioner, Onyedikachi Ifedi, 

has said the continued trial of the Biafra nation agitator,

 Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on terrorism charges is an affront to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Nnamdi Kanu’s trial is being carried out at the Federal High Court in Abuja by the federal government upon his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.

However, the lawyer argued that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights explicitly prohibited extraordinary rendition and inhuman treatment as done to Kanu, by the federal government in the Kenya abduction episode.

He submitted that since the African Charter prohibited extraordinary rendition and is part of the Nigerian law, prosecution of Kanu had become voided and unnecessary on the strength of the abduction.

According to him, to allow a prosecution tainted by kidnapping and torture to proceed against the Biafran leader is expressly forbidden by the Charter and confirmed by the larger constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The legal practitioner made his position known in a statement he issued to the media.

He submitted that the December 15, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court by a five-man panel being used to prosecute Kanu was a great error because a seven-man panel of the same court had in the past frowned at such a situation when extraordinary rendition is involved.

According to him, the African Charter on Human, Peoples’ Rights prohibited extraordinary rendition as done to Kanu by the federal government and that since the African Charter is part of the Nigerian law, the trial of Kanu for whatever reason, is automatically forbidden.

Faulting the December 2023 apex court verdict, the lawyer noted that “in one breath, the verdict stripped Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of every protection guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, protections enshrined in Nigerian law by the African Charter (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

“In another breath, the same judgment is purported to remit Kanu for trial on repealed charges.

“This was not merely a miscarriage of justice. It was a judicial mutiny against the Constitution, the African Charter and binding precedent.

This is not a mere error. It is per incuriam — delivered in ignorance of binding law — and thus a legal nullity.

He cited Supreme Court of Nigeria in a matter between General Sanni Abacha & Ors vs. Chief Gani Fawehinmi (2000) 6 NWLR (Pt. 660) 228, where a full constitutional panel of seven Justices of the Supreme Court spoke on the status of African Charter (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

He submitted that the Supreme Court in the matter of Abacha and Gani Fawehinmi made it clear that the African Charter is enforceable in Nigerian courts as domestic law.

According to him, the Supreme Court made it clear that the African Charter is on the same pedestal as Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution in guaranteeing fundamental rights and that any Nigerian law, policy, or act of the State inconsistent with the Charter’s provisions is void.

According to him, “This decision is binding law. Under the doctrine of stare decisis, a smaller panel of the Supreme Court is bound by it. Only an equal or larger panel can depart from it.

In Osho vs. Foreign Finance Corporation (1991) 4 NWLR (Pt. 184) 157 at 188: “A smaller panel is bound by the decision of a larger panel.” Oladokun v. Military Governor of Oyo State (1996) 8 NWLR (Pt. 467) 387: “Hierarchy within the same court is determined by panel size; larger panel decisions prevail.”  Abacha vs. Fawehinmi remains the gold standard for the African Charter’s domestic enforceability.

“When the African Charter was domesticated, it became part of Nigerian law with constitutional force. It is not a mere statute; it is a Bill of Rights rooted in both Nigerian and international obligations.

By discarding it, the FRN vs. Kanu panel did violence to the Constitution itself. No court of law can stand on such a foundation without becoming an engine of oppression.

“If this perverse precedent is allowed to stand, no Nigerian citizen will have meaningful human rights protections in cases involving state violence.

“The rule of law will be replaced by the rule of judicial convenience.The Supreme Court’s integrity will sink beneath the weight of its own lawlessness.

“The FRN vs. Kanu decision is void for failure to adhere to stare decisis and for arrogating to a five-man panel the unlawful power to overturn the decision of a seven-man constitutional bench.History will remember this case not as law, but as a monument to judicial betrayal, the day the Supreme Court of Nigeria broke its own oath and buried the African Charter alongside the Constitution”, he submitted.

The lawyer appealed to the federal government to adhere to the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which effectively voided the trial of Kanu, discharged and acquitted him on breach of his fundamental rights 

He specifically pleaded that the judgment be invoked by government to terminate the trial and allow the IPOB leader enjoy his deserved freedom.

Biafra news : Biafra Civil War , You were used to execute unjust war against lgbos – Ohaneze to Gowon

The Apex Igbo Socio-cultural Organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo,

 has refuted the recent statements made by the former Military Head of State, 

General Yakubu Gowon that the Nigerian, Biafran civil war was not targeted at the Igbo people.

Gowon stated that rather it was instead the secessionists who revolted against the Nigerian government in 1966.

Ohanaeze said such claims are not only gross misinformation but also a blatant misrepresentation of historical fact while describing the representation as an affront to the collective memory and dignity of the Igbo nation.

 The lgbo group noted that it is a moral obligation to address the pervasive biases and distorted narratives perpetuated by General Gowon, who, as a 91-year-old former military head of state, was tragically manipulated by colonial powers and the Fulani oligarchy.

In a statement issued on Sunday by a factional Deputy President-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, Ohanaeze accused General Gowon of failure to protect the lives of Nigerians, especially the Igbos residing in the North during the crisis which led to the civil war.

The statement pointed out that unimaginable atrocities were committed against the Igbo people following the 1966 Northern riots, which pushed them into a position of strategic self-defence, a response to a war they did not initiate against the Nigerian government.

The statement partly read, “The grievous narrative that General Gowon has chosen to propagate must be corrected. History will judge Gowon harshly if he neglects this final opportunity to redeem himself by discarding the military mentality and outdated rhetoric of national unity.

“He must have the courage to disclose the truth about the influences that led him to abandon the Aburi Accord, a  peace agreement that could have averted the tragic escalation of the Nigeria/Biafra War.

“Gowon’s military aggression toward the Igbo was not merely a reaction to secessionist desires but a strategically calculated action driven by British economic interests in the oil-rich Eastern region of Biafra and the retaliatory motives of the Fulani oligarchy.

The Igbo body added that God Almighty has granted General Gowon continued life for two significant purposes, first, to surrender to his conscience and seek God’s forgiveness, summoning his moral courage to openly confess his misdeeds and provide an accurate account of the Nigerian Biafran War; second, to facilitate healing by leading efforts toward reconciliation and reconstruction for the Igbo people.

Ohaneze, however, said, “It is indeed lamentable that Gowon’s recent self-aggrandizing statements, possibly designed to sanitize his image, instead continue to perpetuate a façade that insults the deeply felt grievances of the Igbo nation.

”Rather than embrace this moment for personal and national healing, he has insulted the memories of the three million innocent Igbo civilians who lost their lives during the civil war.

His military pride and an oath of silence have tormented him for over five decades, leading to a deeply personal struggle that he must now confront.

”Ohanaeze’s unwavering advice to General Gowon is straightforward and urgent; as time passes, he must cease his evasive tactics, confront his conscience, and abandon the falsehoods surrounding this grave chapter of Nigeria’s history.

With only limited time remaining, it is imperative that he speaks the unvarnished truth and seeks forgiveness from the Igbo people and Nigerians at large.

“The curses resulting from the atrocities committed, such as the Asaba massacre, and the tragic toll of three million lives must be lifted.

“The painful repercussions of Gowon’s actions continue to resonate today, affecting even communities in the Middle Belt,  where violence perpetrated by Fulani militias persists.

“This is a poignant moment for his associates to create yet another opportunity for him to come forward, unburden himself, and speak the truth.

“The world is watching and waiting for General Gowon to rise to the occasion for the sake of posterity, the statement said.

Biafra news : Nnamdi Kanu’s family has paid heavy price for his agitation – IPOB lawyer, Ejimakor

 Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu,

 leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said the family of the Biafra agitator has paid a heavy price for his agitation.

Ejimakor said the matter of Biafra has impacted heavily on the family of Kanu.

Kanu has been incarcerated since June 2021 when he was picked up in Kenya and subjected to extraordinary rendition to Nigeria.

Since his return to Nigeria, the IPOB leader has remained locked up by the Department of State Services (DSS), despite court orders that discharged and acquitted him.

In the course of Kanu’s Biafra agitation, the military, under the codename Operation Python Dance, had attempted to eliminate him but failed.     Soldiers had invaded Kanu’s residence in Afaraukwu in Abia State but missed him.      Amid the agitation for Biafra, Kanu lost both parents.

However, posting on X, Ejimakor wrote: “The matter of MAZI NNAMDI KANU & #Biafra have impacted equally, if not more, on his immediate family & they’ve fought & led from the front, contributing most to every case won, including Appeal Court, Kenya, Umuahia, UN, Enugu & AU. And they’ve paid a heavy price     #PythonDance.” 

Biafra news : Nnamdi Kanu extends open invitation to Nigerians

  

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, 

IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has extended an open invitation to anybody who wants to visit him at the Department of State Services, DSS, facility.

  Kanu gave the invitation in reaction to the Kenyan High Court’s ruling on his extradition rendition to Nigeria.

This was disclosed by his Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, on Friday after his routine meeting with the Biafra agitator.  

Security agents had rearrested Kanu in June 2021 and subjected him to extraordinary rendition back to Nigeria.

But a Kenyan High Court sitting in Nairobi, on June 24, ruled that Kanu’s extraordinary rendition was unlawful and illegal.

Reacting to the judgment, Kanu commended his lawyers and family members for the landmark judgment.   Posting on X, Ejimakor wrote: “Rising from today’s visitation, MAZI NNAMDI KANU took the opportunity to hail his lawyers & siblings for the stunning victory from Kenya.

“He also extended an open invitation to anybody (who is in doubt about his messages thru his lawyers) to personally pay him a visit at the DSS.”

BIAFRA NEWS. : NewsCourt acquits, discharges 24 Biafran freedom fighters in Ebonyi

 Nigerians from the south eastern part of the country, under the auspices of indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and leadership of Nnamdi Kanu, and Movement for the Actualization Of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) continue to agitate for secession from Nigeria to form their own country, Biafra. Concise updates on Biafra is all you need to stay abreast of events as they unfold in this long-drawn secession struggle. Get updates on the struggles, the protests, the twists and the turns

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Ebonyi State High Court presided over by Justice I. P. Chima, on Thursday, discharged and acquitted the last batch of 24 out of 36 Biafran freedom fighters who have been in prison custody and standing trial for conspiracy and treason.omes after a preliminary objection raised by  they termed a blatant violation of their fundamental rights, particularly the constitutionally guaranteed protection against double jeopardy, as enshrined under Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

BIAFRA NEWS. : Anybody Who Hates Biafra Can't Make Heaven -Nnamdi Kanu

 The IPOB leader also urged Igbo in the Diaspora to double their efforts in the actualization of Biafra, stressing that those who heard his campaigns for Biafra and refused to act would never make heaven.

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Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, says anybody who hates Biafra agitations can never make heaven.

The IPOB leader also urged Igbo in the Diaspora to double their efforts in the actualization of Biafra, stressing that those who heard his campaigns for Biafra and refused to act would never make heaven.

Kano said this yesterday in Houston Texas, United States while addressing Biafra supporters as part of his sensitization tours in the US. 

He said, “God gave you a gift in America to rescue us if you like you can leave it. But I can assure you, if you have heard this gospel (Biafra) today, you return to your homes and do nothing, you will never make heaven. Anybody that hates Biafra can never make heaven. In heaven, the angels speak the Igbo language.”

The gathering chorused “ise” (Amen) as he continued his speech.

While comparing Biafra to Israel, the IPOB leader said there were attempts by foreigners to dominate Israel, adding that Israel failed to act because “they thought it was a joke.”

“After 2000 years, their land was no longer called Israel, it was called Palestine and they had to fight their ways. The Quoran says Jerusalem belongs to Israel. The Bible says Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.  But today, Israel does not have full ownership of Jerusalem because of one mistake.”

He added, “I hope that the value that has driven Biafra civilization for 5000 years will come back to sustain us for another 5000 years. This evening, we have started something that will culminate in the coming of Biafra.

"All of you that did those wonderful works in years back, I call upon you now to redouble your efforts and do the same thing you did before but only now slightly differently; where before you have Nigeria, remove it and put Biafra.

“All hail Biafra. Anybody from Enugu here? Do you know that your land has been taken over? And we think it’s a child’s play. Nature abhors a vacuum, not just theories, it happens. Do you see how clean this place is? If you lock this place and come back here in 20 years, it would decay on its own because you left home, that is why the Fulani have come.

“The only people who are against Biafra are either saboteur, their fathers were saboteurs during the wars. Anybody that hates Biafra is not of pure Biafra blood. That is why we are relying and counting on you.

“No matter how many Igbo villages you built in Virginia, a place I will personally knock down myself…People built Chinatown to make money if they had built it to make money I can understand.

“What you are saying (by building houses in America) is that we no longer exist and that for people to know who we are, they need to go to a museum and be looking through a window to see things. As long as we stand, our fight is two-fold. Biafra will come and the name Nigeria will cease to exists forever and ever.”