Few hours to the determination by the Appeal Court on his release, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has asked legal experts if his continued detention by the DSS inspite of court judgements to that effect is normal.
Kanu who spoke through his younger brother, Prince Emma Kanu, requested that the judiciary and law experts should help provide explanations on the legality of an accused person being detained after he had been discharged of criminal charge by the court.
He said that the Court of Appeal had quashed all 15 counts of treason charge preferred against him by the Federal Government, and subsequently declared that he should not face trial by any court in Nigeria following his extraordinary rendition which was a breach of international protocols.
Prince Emma, who spoke Thursday night after visiting his brother at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS where Kanu is currently held, said the IPOB leader, gave him the message for the whole world.
“I met with my brother today at the DSS headquarters and he gave me a message for the world. He said I should ask the legal experts, law students, lawmakers, Presidents – past and current, and all Nigerians to explain whether an accused person acquitted by the court of criminal charge should still be held on civil grounds?”, Emma said.
Kanu posed the question to Nigerian judiciary, legal practitioners, and lawmakers, seeking to know how lawful it is for an accused person to still be held back in detention on civil proceeding after being discharged and acquitted of criminal charge.
According to the IPOB Leader, breaching the constitution to punish an individual does not portray the judicial system in a good light.
Prince Emma further expressed his family’s worries: “It’s not about Kanu, it is about justice and the Nigeria judicial system. My brother was acquitted by the Appeal Court in a criminal matter, and instead of allowing him to go, the Federal Government went and obtained a stay of execution. Where is that done in a criminal matter?”
Emma disclosed that the IPOB Leader was of the opinion that his matter had lingered due to “lack of due diligence”, contending that there is no legal grounds to still hold him after the Court of Appeal had acquitted him and ordered his unconditional release.
Though the Supreme Court will today, December 15 deliver judgment on Kanu’s continued detention, there have been growing appeals locally and internationally for the court to affirm the various Court judgments ordering Kanu’s unconditional release.
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