The besieged head of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has spoken out following the Supreme Court’s Friday verdict, which mandated his trial on terrorism charges.
According to reports, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s ruling that dismissed the terrorism charges against Kanu.
Justice Garba Mohammed, in the prepared judgment, criticized the invasion of Kanu’s residence as irresponsible. However, the judgment emphasized that Kanu could not be released solely on that basis.
Four days after the verdict, one of Kanu’s lawyers and lead counsel for IPOB, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, stated in a release that, having visited Kanu in the Department of State Services facilities, Kanu was not disturbed by the judgment.
In a statement he sent to newsmen on Tuesday, the lawyer quoted Kanu to have said, “I am not broken by whatever situation I am faced with. I shall emerge victorious in the end.”
The lawyer said Kanu expressed reservation over the verdict but accepted it.
He added that: “The eventual verdict of the Supreme Court was conveyed to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and he expressed reservations about the outcome.”
“However, Onyendu elected to accept this outcome because of the finality of the Supreme Court decisions, and not because they are infallible; but, because they are infallible for the fact that the Supreme Court is the final court in the land.”
“Nevertheless, in accepting this verdict, Onyendu specifically requested that the following compelling questions be put out publicly to the discerning members of the public, who are keenly following the trajectory of this case to wit:
“Did the decision of the Supreme Court, which substantially sanctioned the Federal Government’s illegal act of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s abduction and extraordinary rendition to Nigeria, effectively repeal the following Nigerian laws which were all cited in our brief before the Supreme Court?”
“Section 15 of the Extradition Act Cap E25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (2004) provides as follows: ‘Where, in accordance with the law of any country within the Commonwealth or in pursuance of an extradition agreement between Nigeria and another Country (whether within the Commonwealth or not), any person accused of or unlawfully at large after conviction of an offense committed within the jurisdiction of Nigeria is surrendered to Nigeria by the country in question, then, so long as he has not had a reasonable opportunity to return to that country, that person shall not be detained (whether under this Act or otherwise), tried or otherwise dealt with in Nigeria for or in respect of an offense committed by him before his surrender to Nigeria.”
In the statement, Kanu expressed that the public’s views on the potential consequences of the Supreme Court verdict would further illustrate the “grave prejudice he has suffered in the hands of the Federal Government.”
“Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu once again thanked Ezigbo UmuChineke for your prayers and love, even as he encouraged all to remain focused and keep their eyes on the ball. Onyendu enjoined his followers to continue to conduct themselves peacefully as they have always done,” the lawyer said.