The Search for Alternative Solution to Kanu’s Trial
Governors of the five South-east states, last Sunday, joined the clamour by other notable Igbo leaders in the demand for an alternative solution to the continued incarceration of the detained pro-Biafran leader and director of the Indigenous People of Bia
Last Sunday, a new chapter was opened in the increasing clamour for the release from detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, presently undergoing trial for alleged treason as the governors of the South-east zone resolved to reach out to the federal government with a view to finding alternative solution to the impasse. Until recently, Kanu’s issue had remained within the doorstep of his diehard supporters and believers in his pro-Biafran cause, who had come up with different strategies – all aimed at possibly getting him off the hook. Kanu was reportedly arrested in Lagos on October 18, 2015 by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) upon return from the United Kingdom.
Kanu and his co-accused, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, remained in DSS custody until January 20, 2016, when they were arraigned at the Federal High Court on a six-count charge of treasonable felony and illegal transmission of a radio transmitter preferred against them by the federal government.
They were subsequently remanded in Kuje prison by Justice James Tsoho. Since then, the leaders of the separatist group have remained incarcerated, while the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari had turned deaf ear to the appeals from various quarters seeking their release.
Different strategies adopted by IPOB and MASSOB members, including street protests, stay-at-home orders and markets closure, have all yielded no results.
However, the public outcry against Kanu’s continued incarceration has continued to attract wider attention as notable Igbo leaders, who had in time past maintained silence over the activities of pro-biafran groups, have now taken up the crusade, admitting that the entire situation was getting out of hands.
Apparently taking up the gauntlet, the governors of the South-east at their second meeting since the revival of their forum after almost two years of inactivity expressed worry over the long incarceration of Kanu and his co-accused, pledging their readiness to see to the end of the issue by first meeting with President Buhari.
Addressing newsmen after their meeting at the Government House, Enugu, chairman of the forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, said they resolved to also meet with appropriate authority of the federal government to address other challenges facing the zone.
Some of the major issues to be tabled before the government, according to them, include agitations by some pro-biafran groups including MASSOB, IPOB as well as other issues that bother on security, ecological disasters, power and water dams. The meeting which was attended by all the governors of the zone with the exception of Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, also agreed to meet with all stakeholders in the zone to discuss and address all issues that are of interest to their people.
Before the governors’ sudden interest in the matter, the leadership of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo led by Chief John Nnia Nwodo had also reaffirmed its commitment to equally find an end to the lingering dispute between the pro-Biafran groups and the government. Nwodo had asked government to find ways of addressing the root causes of the increasing spate of agitations not only in the South east zone but across the country.
In recent weeks, notable Igbo leaders and groups have also turned Kuje prisons into a pilgrimage centre of some sorts as they have continued to pay solidarity visits to Kanu and his team.
Some of the leaders include former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr Ferdinard Agu, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu; Law Mefor, Rev. Fr. C. Jude, Udenta Udenta, Ebere Onwudiwe, Emeka Ugwu-Oju, Tony Nnadi, Sam Amadi, Innocent Chukwuma, Collins Ugwu and Andy Wabali.
Others, who visited Kanu under the auspices of Nzuko Umunna, former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, and a renowned Enugu-based prophet, Anthony Nwoko, among others, asked the federal government to immediately order the release of Kanu and his team.
Apart from demanding his immediate release by the federal government, Soludo’s Nzuko Umunna also threatened to drag the federal government to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands.
They alleged that there was an orchestrated plan by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to witch-hunt the Igbo nation, insisting that the release of Kanu remained the only means to true national reconciliation or the group might approach “the ICC, if it becomes necessary.”
Soludo, while speaking with journalists in Abuja, said it was expedient for the government to release Kanu, as his continued incarceration smacks of naked display of abuse of the extant laws and the court.
His group held that “a situation where the state refuses to obey clear and legitimate court orders for his release and holds him until it gets a favourable order, moves the goalposts endlessly through endless amendment of the charges against him, and now seeks to try him in secret, clearly constitutes circumstances that would fall well short of the constitutional guarantees of due process.”
He contended that without the rule of law, no sustainable economic progress can take place. The charge of treasonable felony, which is now levied against Kanu has previously been used against Joseph Tarka and Obafemi Awolowo, adding that “His trial reminds us of the travails of these historic figures in our country and, indeed, of the more recent military-era treason trial of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.”
The Nzuko Umunna however maintained that while this might appear an extreme characterization, it sums up the dominant sentiment of people who believe in the urgency of a fundamentally re-engineered new Nigeria.
“It is our considered view that much of the increasingly desperate agitations are in response to the failures of the dysfunctional and looting elite and poor governance in the context of a failing state that offers increasingly vanishing opportunities and hope for its youth and future generations.
“We do not condone violence, criminality or brigandage of any sort, and nor should any state do so. However, by failing or refusing to address the fundamental issues and instead concentrating on the symptoms, Nigeria runs the grave risk of turning the entire country into a large prison yard or a police state.”
On his part, the chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, urged the President Buhari-led government, to release Kanu, because his continued incarceration was making him a hero.
“On the issue of Kanu and IPOB, I have a different opinion altogether and I think it has been over-dramatised and over-pursued. We will just find out that it has not given us any key result. See, approach is key in life and how you look at things. I think what we must do as Igbo is to let the federal government see the reasons to release Kanu because keeping Kanu there is making him a hero out of nothing. He should be released.
“Since he made inciting statements, he has not killed, he is not found guilty; he should be released. And even what he did is not just an order or threat to government; all that he is charged with, is he guilty of it? Has he done anything wrong? So, we must let the government understand that Kanu is not worth the trouble being attached to him. It is something that we the leaders can go to the president and say, give us this boy, we will guarantee his good behaviour. Bring him out. But the approach is key. I think very soon now I will ensure that a meeting of Igbo leaders is convened.
“This is where leadership is called for. We will go and meet President Buhari and we will kindly request for his release and that he has learnt enough lesson in the prison. Because he didn’t even spare anybody; we have to let him know he wasn’t only talking about the federal government and Biafra; he was castigating and insulting all the Igbo leaders.
“When such a person who even castigated his own is in prison, why should it be a big deal? Why don’t we look at it differently and see it as youthful exuberance rather than putting him there and he is creating a bit of tension and what should not worth it,” he said.
Kalu and former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, are not left out as they have equally risen to the demand for the release of Kanu, insisting that there is the undying need for the resolution of the misunderstanding through alternative means instead of allowing the legal process to continue with its obvious consequences to the peace of the nation.
While Kalu insisted that Kanu did not belong to Kuje Prison, Obi on his part, noted that it had become imperative for the federal government to change its “hardline posture and yield to the persistent clamour” for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
“Today, I visited Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Kuje Prison and we engaged in a very long discussion. Kanu is my brother and a son of the soil. He shouldn’t be where he is because Kuje Prison is not his home. It is therefore my utmost concern to see him regain his freedom like every other Nigerian,” Kalu said.
Obi said the federal government ought to engage the Biafra activists in dialogue as that is the only means through which the agitation could be addressed. He condemned the use of force against the Biafra agitators, adding that the government should realise and acknowledge that the agitators, like other citizens, have their fundamental rights of freedom of expression.
“I wish to appeal to the federal government to change its hardline posture on this issue and yield to the persistent clamour for the release of Nnamdi Kanu and other Biafra activists so as to douse the tension in the country, especially in the South-east and South-south geo-political zones,” he said.
Apart from political leaders, who have added their voices to the need for the adoption of alternative approach in the pro-Biafra agitations, other known bodies, including the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and the Amnesty International among other human right bodies, have also stressed the need for the present administration to do away with its hardline posture and seek for alternative solution.
“This is not leadership. You cannot incarcerate your subject for almost two years, flagrantly disobey court orders and publicly condemn people who are standing trial and still call yourself a leader. Mr. President must do the needful now; he must as a matter of fact order the release of Nnamdi Kanu to prove to us in Igbo land that we are still part and parcel of this polity,” Dr. Uka Ezue of the Human Right Initiative (HRI) noted.
It is believed that with the avalanche of calls from well-meaning individuals and organisations for the release of Kanu and his co-accused, government would listen to the voice of reason and embrace dialogue so as to spare itself and Nigerians the avoidable distractions coming from the needless incarceration of these pro-Biafra agitators.