A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, on Monday trashed the judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, which saw the conviction and sentencing of the leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment for the alleged terrorism.
In a statement to the media, Chief Eze said Justice Omotosho should have halted actions on the charges pending the determination of an appeal bothering on jurisdiction and Kanu’s unlawful and awkward rendition to Nigeria, an act which the APC chief described as contrary to every recognized standard of practice in such circumstances.
Eze said the court erred in law by refusing to acknowledge Kanu’s final written address, which comprehensively tackled the anomalies in the entire trial.
He said Section 36 of the Constitution, which guarantees a fair hearing, was grossly and unapologetically violated to arrive at the travesty of justice.
“One would have loved a situation where the court addressed its decision to try Kanu under a repealed law, Terrorism Prevention Act, 2013, a law that no longer exists.
“This major flaw nullifies the entire trial as the law is trite that no person should be tried for an offence that is unknown to the laws of the country”, Eze contended.
Describing the judgement as a corruption of law and a travesty of justice, Eze said the federal government under Tinubu was determined to convict Kanu regardless of how defective the entire trial would be.
The APC chieftain recalled that sometime in June 2021, Justice Anthony Mrima of the Kenyan High Court held that the abduction and rendition of Kanu was a blatant violation of his fundamental rights.
He added that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Opinion 25/2/22) had also noted that the deprivation of Mr. Kanu’s liberty is arbitrary, suggesting that the appropriate remedy was his immediate release.
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Eze further recalled that two days before the conviction of Kanu, November 18, Boko Haram Co-founder, Mamman Nur, who was responsible for the deaths of 2,000 defenceless, innocent citizens, was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
“Radical Islamists, terrorist organizations linked to Islamic herdsmen and bandits, all pursuing the jihadist agenda, have continued to have a field day in their killing and kidnapping spree across the country without any reasonable efforts by the Tinubu administration to bring the menace under control”, he wondered
Eze lamented that despite the obvious threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria by non-state actors, Tinubu is more concerned about 2027, showing little or no interest in salvaging the already battered global image of Nigeria, which is today ranked top in the chart of deadliest countries in our world.
The APC chief called for calm, expressing confidence that Kanu would regain his freedom in due course of time, stressing that his trial, conviction, and sentence clearly violated Nigerian laws and other relevant international instruments on the rights of humans.
