A public interest lawyer and activist, Maduabuchi Idam, has declared that Nnamdi Kanu’s conviction will haunt what he described as the Nigerian conscience.
Reacting to the life sentence slammed on the separatist agitator on Thursday, Idam said the conviction represents “a vindictive form of justice”.
Idam maintained that the alleged injustice “may linger like the ghost of King Hamlet to haunt the Nigerian conscience, if not now, then in the future.”
The lawyer said, “The conviction of Mr Nnamdi Kanu represents a vindictive form of justice—one that may linger like the Ghost of King Hamlet to haunt the Nigerian conscience, if not now, then in the future.
“A nation cannot joyfully engage in negotiations and the payment of ransom to bandits, terrorists, and kidnappers, only to wake up one morning, wielding a sledgehammer against a man, simply for being radical in his preachings against oppression and suppression.
“No Nigerian should jubilate over such a judgment. It does not represent the kind of justice we seek. A law that has long remained cold and weak cannot suddenly become active overnight simply because it is being experimented on by a man from the southeast.
“Even the prodigal son was embraced and clothed in the finest garments by his father when he returned home, as taught in the Bible. Why then have the Igbo people not been similarly embraced, even 55 years after the war ended in 1970?
“If this is the justice the Nigerian state needs to remain united, then the unity has to be questioned.”
Leave a Comment