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Nnamdi Kanu: Nigeria might break apart if… – Ozekhome
Nnamdi Kanu: Nigeria might break apart if… – Ozekhome
Mike Ozekhome, the primary attorney for Nnamdi Kanu, has requested that the Supreme Court of Nigeria “correct the injustice” of the Court of Appeal Abuja by ordering the release of the head of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
NewsReport gathered that Ozekhome warned that Nigeria could disintegrate if Kanu is not released from custody as soon as possible.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) gave this warning during a recent meeting with Igbo leaders in Atlanta, the United States of America (USA).
“We are at the Supreme Court, and it will right the wrong because nobody will intimidate the Supreme court. They will have to do something so that Nigeria will not disintegrate,” Ozekhome said.
“I have told the court that releasing Nnamdi Kanu will not break the South East or bring unrest in the zone. Rather, that is what will calm South East.
“This is because the day the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment ordering his release, there was spontaneous jubilation from Aba to Umuahia; Onitsha to Nnewi; Isiagu to Abakaliki; Orlu to Owerri, and the entire zone even in Lagos and Abuja and other parts of Nigeria.
“So, I told the court that: If you want to have peaceful election and peace in the South East, and by extension, Nigeria, then release Nnamdi Kanu.”
This newspaper recalls that last month, the Abuja Appeal Court halted the execution of its judgment which freed Kanu of terrorism charges.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal had faulted the federal government’s forcible repatriation of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 to face terrorism charges over the IPOB leader’s separatist campaigns.
Oludotun Adefope-Okojie who led the appellate court’s panel had on 13 October held that the federal government broke local and international laws by forcibly re-arresting and returning Kanu to Nigeria. However, in a ruling, Haruna Tsanami leading a panel of the Court of Appeal, in Abuja, ordered that the enforcement of the judgment releasing Kanu be put on hold.
Kanu’s legal team has since approached the Supreme Court on the matter, and according to Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor on Thursday evening, “from every indication, it is very likely that a date will soon be assigned at the Supreme Court of Nigeria for the hearing of Onyendu (Kanu’s) Appeal against the Order staying the execution of his judgment”.
