AS NNAMDI KANU REGAINS FREEDOM…

Sonnie Ekwowusi argues that the release of the IPOB leader offers ample room for negotiation

After nearly two years of incarceration, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Mr. Nnamdi Kanu regained his freedom last week. All things being equal, Kanu will likely continue to enjoy his freedom while he faces trial. Ostensibly bowing to the rule of law and the ceaseless mounting agitations for the release of Kanu, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja had last Tuesday granted Nnamdi Kanu bail. But unfortunately the bail turned out to be a Greek bail because of the suffocating conditions attached to it.

Justice Nyako had ruled that the court was minded to grant Kanu bail because of his deteriorating health conditions because “it is only the living that can stand trial”. Thereafter, Justice Nyako said something which contradicted her earlier statement that she was minded to grant Kanu bail. She gave Kanu 10 excruciating bail conditions to fulfil before his bail could be perfected. The 10 conditions were: one, Mr. Kanu must not hold rallies; two, Mr. Kanu must not grant interviews; three, he must not be in a crowd of more than 10 persons; four, he must provide three sureties in the sum of N100 million each; five, one of Kanu’s sureties must be a senior highly-placed person of Igbo extraction such as a Senator; six, the second surety must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Mr. Kanu said his religion is Judaism; seven, the third surety to be provided by Mr. Kanu must be a highly respected person who owns landed property and is resident in Abuja; eight, Mr. Kanu must deposit his Nigerian passport with the court; nine, he must also deposit his British passport with the court and ten, he must provide the court with reports on the progress of his health and treatment on a monthly basis.

If Justice Nyako had been minded to exercise her discretion judiciously and judicially to grant Kanu bail on health ground, why did she simultaneously make the perfection of the bail almost impossible by attaching some excruciating conditions to it? The right to bail directly flows from the constitutional right to liberty guaranteed under section 35(1) of the 1999 Constitution. Although bail conditions are at the discretion of the court having regard to the circumstances of the case and the possibility/impossibility of the accused jumping bail, the courts have held that such bail conditions must never be excruciating or excessive. As the court held in OBEKPA V STATE, until the guilt of the accused is established by the prosecution, the court should be careful not to take steps that would appear simply punitive and that includes granting the accused bail on very onerous grounds. In his book with the title: Rights of Suspects and Accused Persons Under Nigerian Criminal Law, Chief Frank Agbedo dedicated some pages to the liberalising bail process in Nigeria. According to Chief Agbedo, “conditions for bail ought to be very liberal, with more credence being given to the integrity, patriotism and availability of the surety, rather than his status and proof of means. These conditions in most cases, because of their cumbersome nature, translate to giving bail with one hand, and withholding it with the other hand by the same court that granted it”. In his book: Practical Approach to Criminal Litigation in Nigeria, James Atta Agaba Esq. writes that ordinarily there is no special qualification to be possessed before someone can act as a surety. All what a person needs to qualify as a surety are: he must be a person of a known address; a person of good character and a person acceptable to court.

Anyway, whatever might have transpired before, during and after Kanu was granted bail, the undeniable fact is that he has finally regained his freedom. To be sure, the upholding of Kanu’s right to his personal liberty while he faces trial is bound to calm down nerves. It will assuage the pain and anger of many. More importantly, it is an invitation to the inauguration of a new era of peace and concord. It is hoped that other detained IPOB members will soon regain their freedom. If that happens, it might pave way for a rapprochement between the government and IPOB that might lead to the healing of old wounds. There is no harm in dialogue. Therefore, the Buhari government should explore the option of entering into dialogue with IPOB and other separatist movements in Nigeria. Mowing down defenceless IPOB members is no option at all. You cannot open fire on defenceless civilians simply because you hate the word Biafra. That is completely unacceptable. We cannot relish in wasting human lives. In any case, what is sauce for the goose is equally sauce for the gander. If the government has entered into dialogue with the Niger Delta militants and had in the past tried to do the same with Boko Haram, why can’t the government equally extend the same gesture to IPOB? Until IPOB is treated the same way other separatist groups are treated the public will continue to read political meanings into the swooping and killing of members of IPOB. Dialoguing with some separatist groups while killing and prosecuting IPOB members evinces a double standard.

Finally we must be careful not to remain at the level of pitching camp and declaring war against every Jannes or Jambres that rears up his head. That is a pretty waste of energy. For me, the real issue as stake goes beyond Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB or MASSOB. The real issue is how to remedy the commutative injustice being suffered by the Igbos. If 47 years after the Nigerian Civil War the Igbos are still embittered that many parts of Igbo land are still looking like conquered war zones, as exemplified in the extant Olisa Agbakoba’s ground-breaking suit against the government, it means that we are just holding the form of federalism but denying the power of it. Until we accept the power of federalism and allow the power to shape the scheme of things we would continue to move round and round in concentric circle.

THE UPHOLDING OF KANU’S RIGHT TO HIS PERSONAL LIBERTY WHILE HE FACES TRIAL IS BOUND TO CALM DOWN NERVES