The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), and the Umuahia North Traditional Rulers Council, Abia State, on Friday rejected the conviction and life imprisonment sentence handed down to IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
In their separate reactions, the groups insisted that Nnamdi Kanu was a freedom fighter and not a terrorist.
Justice Omotosho, in his judgment, found Kanu guilty of all seven terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government. IPOB, in its reaction, described the life sentence passed on its leader as a judicial absurdity and a legal impossibility.
In a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB said it would, in the coming days and weeks, expose what it described as the fundamental defects, contradictions, and illegalities in the judgment.
The statement read, “For the avoidance of doubt, no gun, no grenade, no GPMG, no explosive, and no attack plan was ever found on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. No witness, civilian or military, ever testified before any court at any stage that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu committed any offence known to Nigerian or international law. This is an undeniable fact. The only offence the Nigerian government claims against Nnamdi Kanu is seeking self-determination, which is not a crime anywhere in the world.
“The only thing the Nigerian government continues to criminalize is self-determination, a right guaranteed under Article 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Self-determination is a protected right, not a crime. Agitation is not terrorism and requesting a referendum is not a weapon.
“Meanwhile, the politically manufactured insecurity in the South East escalated while Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was in solitary confinement at the DSS facility, cut off from the outside world. No honest observer can attribute to him acts that occurred while he was physically incapable of involvement.
“This is no longer merely a Biafra issue. It is a human rights issue. It is a constitutional issue. It is an international law issue. And it is a test of whether Nigeria respects the rule of law or has descended into full judicial authoritarianism. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains a prisoner of conscience, a victim of extraordinary rendition, and the target of political persecution. No amount of judicial contortion can change the truth.”
MASSOB, in a statement issued by its leader, Uchenna Madu, expressed disappointment over the judgment, describing it as unacceptable. The group accused the Federal Government of pursuing what it called a premeditated and dangerous agenda against Ndigbo. MASSOB questioned how a Boko Haram leader responsible for the deaths of many Nigerians received a five-year sentence only 24 hours before the same Federal High Court, Abuja, imposed a life sentence on Kanu. MASSOB alleged that Kanu was being persecuted for exposing what it described as the agenda of Islamic fundamentalists.
According to the group, “The real crime of Mazi was his bold exposure of the radical Islamic jihad consuming Nigeria and the government’s relationship with Islamic jihadists.” The group called on the United States to help secure justice for Kanu and the marginalised Igbo population.
Also reacting, the President of the Eastern Nigeria Development Association (ENDA), Charles Obinna Chukwunaru, said, “The international community has categorically rejected the Nigerian establishment’s attempt to label Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a terrorist. Instead, he is widely recognized as a separatist leader. A diligent review of major international headlines shows that the Nigerian government has inadvertently elevated Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s stature as a prominent separatist figure.”
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