OPINION: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s trial by torture

PERSECUTION. Dehumanization. And humiliation. You can add retaliation. And the subjugation of a particular nation among the component nations in Nigeria, by other means. These words and much more represent the travails of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB]. To some people in Nigeria and elsewhere, IPOB is a self determination group but to the federal government of Nigeria under its President, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, it is a terrorist organization. It is instructive that only the government of Nigeria regards IPOB as a terrorist group. No other country worthy of mention or any international organization agrees with Buhari’s label. And consequent upon this hate-driven determination, Nigeria has spared nothing to get other countries to brand IPOB as a terror group. But so far, it appears no one is buying the broth from Nigeria’s coven. And oven.

So, what’s the next best option for the Buhari regime in dealing with the IPOB leader in the face of the global rejection of his terrorism tag; get the fleeing Nnamdi Kanu [who was on bail granted by a federal high court but fled when soldiers invaded his Umuahia, Abia state-home in an ostensibly murderous mission] by fair or foul means from wherever he was in the world, bring him to Nigeria by any means including extraordinary rendition, put him in prison, throw away the jail key, and then go through the motions of pretending to let him have his day in court. The evil scheme worked for so long and then backfired. Or better still the scheme ran into an unexpected snag. One of the regime’s courts, a ranking court at that, gave a shock ruling- free Kanu and no court in the land should ever try him again on the 14 or so charges preferred against him which the court had dismissed with ignominy.

For the regime, that court ruling was an affront. For the avoidance of doubt and for the sake of emphasis, I am not a fan of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu nor that of IPOB. But I am persuaded that Nigeria is not working and will not work if we keep doing the same thing, the same way and expect a different result. I supported Mr. Peter Obi and Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmad, presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Labour Party [LP] in the recent election in the hope and believe that they would represent paradigm and seismic change in the governance philosophy and developmental trajectory of this country. The litigation over the controversial result declared by the supposedly Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] is expected to gather speed and momentum this week. Instead of balkanization as IPOB appears to be advocating, I canvass a national dialogue to ensure the emergence of a structure that reflects or approximate what obtains in other countries which practice federalism. I, however, understand the frustrations of the hotheads in IPOB given the violent resistance of individuals and sections of Nigeria who feel that they are benefitting from the extant order.

Now, how did we get here? In 2015 or thereabout, Kanu was arrested while on a visit to Nigeria and arraigned on treason, treasonable felony, terrorism and related charges. He was locked up in Kuje prison for about two years and then granted bail. In September 2017, he escaped from soldiers who invaded his family home and subsequently fled abroad. He was, therefore said to have jumped bail. But his traducers conveniently ignored the fact that he did not breach the bail conditions until the military invasion during which scores of people were said to have been killed. Apparently unable to enlist the support of the International Police Organization [INTERPOL], the Nigerian government resorted to self help and the assistance of pliable countries to arrest Kanu. Nigeria found a collaborator in the government of Kenya and working in concert, they captured Kanu, allegedly brutalized him for days and then renditioned him to Nigeria in 2021. The international community rejects extraordinary rendition. But to be sure, some other countries, including those in the West, adopt this objectionable strategy. With Kanu brought back to Nigeria in the dead of the night and in handcuffs and leg chains, and in the custody of the secret police otherwise called the Directorate of State Services [DSS], it then took forever to arraign him. And to think that he was facing grievous charges before the interruption of his trial. When the State versus Nnamdi Kanu finally returned to court, half of the charges were dismissed by a federal high court. Not satisfied, the accused headed to the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal which listened to his case and dismissed the remaining charges on October 13, 2022. The Court of Appeal also ruled that no court in the country should ever try Kanu on the charges it had dismissed.

The regime that rules by vengeance was incensed. To block the release of Kanu, Buhari and the All Progressives Congress [APC] federal government hurriedly filed a four-ground notice of appeal against the court of appeal’s decision at the Supreme Court. They then went back to the Court of Appeal to arrest the execution of the appeal court’s judgment to free Kanu.

And the regime went back to sleep because it had succeeded in keeping Nnamdi Kanu behind bars and in continuing his trial by torture. Six months after the hurried holding charge, the regime roused itself from its nightmarish sleep and returned to the Supreme Court in Abuja to add additional nine grounds of appeal. The kernel of the regime’s appeal was that the panel of the justices of the Court of Appeal that dismissed all the charges preferred against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the IPOB, misdirected themselves, making their ruling a ‘miscarriage of justice’.

Let us now return to our assertion that the regime of Buhari was not interested in affording Kanu a fair hearing in court but was instead committed to his trial by torture. Kanu was charged with treason and treasonable felony. Treason is ‘the crime of betraying one’s country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow the sovereign or government’. This charge carries the death sentence. Treasonable felony is related to treason but comes with life imprisonment if convicted. With these charges, including that of terrorism, you would expect that the regime will be in a hurry for trial and to get a conviction so that the accused will either be executed or left to rot in prison. Either way, regime’s safety would be reasonably assured. It’s reasonable, therefore, to assert that the regime’s laid back attitude to the prosecution of Nnamdi Kanu confirms that it is only interested in his continuing trial by torture.

The right to personal liberty has universal application. It has qualifications though. However, the exception does not include the Nigerian government indeterminate locking up of Nnamdi Kanu when a properly constituted court of law has not determined so. Therefore, to every person of conscience and good judgment, the continuing imprisonment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the regime of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his APC political party, amounts to trial by torture. Last year a United Nations agency said that the process that led to Kanu’s rendition to Nigeria was an affront to all international laws, conventions and treaties and that his trial was null and void. It declared Kanu a ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ and demanded his immediate and unconditional release. Buhari who claims he does not despise the Igbo, in spite of his other utterances and body language that suggest so, still has an opportunity to redeem himself in the dying days of his disastrous rule of Nigeria these past eight years by ordering his attorney-general and minister of justice to discontinue the trial by torture of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and through the trial the systematic humiliation of the Igbo Nation. Buhari can achieve all these before he relocates from Aso Rock Villa in Abuja to Daura in Katsina state and then to his cousins and family in Niger Republic.

AUTHOR: UGO ONUOHA

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Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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