Igbo lost selfless leader – MASSOB urges Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu in Mbazulike Amechi’s honour
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has expressed shock over the death of the foremost Igbo leader, High Chief Mbazulike Amechi.
MASSOB stated that Ndigbo had lost a fearless and eloquent leader, a national peacemaker and a father.
In a statement signed by its National Director Of Information, Comrade Edeson Samuel, the organisation described Amechi as a visionary leader and lover of the Igbo nation.
MASSOB further called on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant the last wish of Chief Mbazulike by releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu without further delay.
Part of the statement read: “Ndigbo has lost a fearless and eloquent leader, a National peacemaker, a hero, a selfless leader and a father.
“MASSOB described him as a visionary leader and lover of the Igbo nation. He was Nigeria’s first Aviation minister and a prominent member of the Zikism movement; a Biafra General, MASSOB and Biafrans, in general, mourn his demise.
“His fatherly advice, admonishments and roles he played in the fight for the emancipation of the Igbo nation can never be forgotten by Ndigbo and the world at large.
“Chief Mbazuluike Amechi was a true son of Igbo land. It is more painful that his last wish of releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was yet to be granted by General Muhammadu Buhari led APC federal government of Nigeria.
“MASSOB is calling on General Buhari to grant the last wish of Chief Mbazulike by releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu without further delay because that was his last wish.”
How Governor Uzodinma, Other Political Leaders Are Deliberately Working Against Release Of Nnamdi Kanu – IPOB
IPOB made the allegation on Tuesday in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State of working with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Abubakar Malami on the government’s refusal to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu from the detention.
IPOB made the allegation on Tuesday in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful.
The group also said that a former Governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insulted Ndigbo (Southeasterners) in Enugu State and that he was also moving against the release of Kanu, therefore, “we are coming for him and Hope Uzodinma.”
IPOB also alleged that it had credible information that Governor Uzodinma shared funds meant for security with government officials in Abuja, while he travelled abroad weekly to deposit the rest of the funds in his foreign bank accounts.
According to the statement, IPOB said, “The global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of the great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wish to alert Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom across the globe that Hope Uzodinma the Governor of Imo State is among those responsible for Malami and the cabals’ refusal to release our leader, Nnamdi KANU, from DSS custody after Appeal Court acquitted and discharged him.
“Hope Uzodinma was made Governor of Imo State by Aso Rock through the Supreme Court legal maneuvering to heighten the insecurity and banditry in Imo State and the entire Eastern Region so they can blackmail IPOB.
Nnamdi Kanu: South-East govs seek political solution
he South-East Governors’ Forum has called on the Federal Government to deploy a political solution to the case of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The governors made the demand on Sunday after an emergency meeting held in Enugu.
The demand forms part of a communique issued at the end of the meeting and read by the forum’s chairman and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi.
Reading the resolutions of the forum, Umahi said, “South-East Governors are watching with keen interest the developments with respect to the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu viz-a-viz the Court rulings. However, we believe that a political solution is still possible in this circumstance.”
The forum decried the state of insecurity in the region and expressed worry over economic activities which have come to a halt while kidnapping and wanton killing have become the order of the day.
They also resolved to set up a 24-hour joint patrol in all major highways in the region.
MASSOB disowns ‘criminals’ masquerading as Biafra activists in Enugu forests
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, has disowned some dissidents in the forests of Oduma in Aninri local government area and her neighbouring communities of Nkerefi, Nomeh and Mburubu in Nkanu East LGA, all in Enugu state.
MASSOB alleged that the criminal elements were terrorizing the areas in the name of Biafra agitation, noting that its intelligence shows that the gangsters operate in a camp within the borderline between Nkerefi and Oduma forest called Ngene Awa by Oduma people but called Okobo by Nkerefi people.
Enugu state coordinator of MASSOB, Daniel Onyebuchi, during the weekend, said that the criminals have subjected members of the communities to slavery, where the indigenous people can no longer go to their farms in the present harvesting season because of fear of being kidnapped, raped or killed by the criminal youths.
“It is unfortunate that these youths with brighter futures have turned themselves into criminal activities by making kidnapping a lucrative business. MASSOB blames the state governments in the Southeast zone for their failure to create jobs opportunities and solid empowerment for our youths,” Onyebuchi lamented.
He said that MASSOB observed that about five persons have been kidnapped in those areas, including community leaders and those who could not pay the demanded ransom and have remained in the terrorists’ custody.
”The neighbourhood security outfit in the area was attacked and disarmed by these unknown gunmen. MASSOB advised these gangsters youths to rethink damaging their futures. They should leave the forest now, stop every criminal activity in the name of Biafra agitation and be useful with their lives before is too late
“It is very clear that these people are not fighting for Biafra actualization, because Biafra agitators cannot be involved in kidnapping, stealing, raping and making life unbearable for your own people whom you claim you are fighting for,” Onyebuchi advised.
COSEYL alleges plots to assassinate Nnamdi Kanu in Abuja
The attention of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, has raided an alarm alleging that the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is no longer safe in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
The coalition raised the alarm following the recent terror alert by the United States, United Kingdom and Canada that some terrorists were planning to launch a deadly attack in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Reacting, the President General of the coalition, Goodluck Ibem in a statement yesterday, alleged that the move by the Federal government to keep Kanu in DSS custody despite a court order, “confirmed a plot to assassinate him (Kanu) using the terror attack as a cover-up to hide the involvement of some forces”.
“Since Great Britain is evacuating her citizens from Abuja over the planned terror attack, we call on Britain to also evacuate Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is a British citizen from Abuja at the same time”.
The coalition warned that the terror alert by different countries should be taken seriously, stressing that previous incidents had proven that the US intelligence gatherings were accurate.
“Federal Government is giving people hope when most of those saying there is no cause for alarm can hardly travel to their villages because terrorists have taken over their villages and their farmers”, the statement added.
Court has ordered FG to pay Nnamdi Kanu N500m and return him to Kenya immediately.
Newsone reports that a Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia, Abia state, southeast Nigeria, has ordered the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government to pay N500 million damages to the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for his forcible extradition and extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
This online news platform understands that the presiding Judge, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, who gave the judgment on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, said that the Federal Government and its agencies grossly violated Kanu’s fundamental human rights by illegally renditioning him back to Nigeria without due process.
The court in its ruling, ordered the Federal Government to return the IPOB Leader to Kenya where he was before the June 19 2021 forceful disappearance from the East African country.
Nnamdi Kanu has won again with the court ruling against Buhari Government.
Newsone reports that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria has lost its bid to transfer the suit of the extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, from Umuahia to Abuja.
The Feder al High Court in Umuahia, Abia State in a ruling on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, insisted that it has the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit against Nnamdi Kanu.
The Supreme Court will today, Monday, hear the appeal filed by the Federal Government asking that it should set aside the Appeal Court judgement that freed Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
NEWS-ONE NIGERIA recalls that the Appellate Court had in a unanimous judgement by the three-man panel of justices, dismissed the charges against Kanu by the FG for flagrantly violating all known laws in the way it forcefully renditioned Kanu from Kenya to the country for the continuation of his trial.
“The court will never shy away from calling the Executive to order when it edges towards Executive recklessness”, the appellate court held.
However, the Federal Government has gone to the nation’s apex court asking it to stay the execution of the judgement the appellate court delivered on October 13.
Among other things, it is arguing that the appellate court panel erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice when it relied on the manner Kanu was renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria after he jumped bail the trial court granted to him in 2017, to quash the entire charge against him.
Biafra: Court adjourns CNG suit on referendum to January 27
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, adjourned hearing on the suit filed by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) seeking a referendum to determine the fate of Biafra and other self-determination agitations to January 27, 2023.
It would be recalled that the CNG had in June 2021 dragged the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation to Court, asking it to compel the defendants to halt the ongoing constitutional review exercise and in its place, conduct a referendum to determine what determines Nigeria and who populates it.
The Federal Government has filed seven grounds of appeal against the October 13 Court of Appeal judgment which discharged the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
It asked the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment and restore the charge against the respondent to be tried at the trial court.
The government, in a motion on notice in support of the appeal, is also seeking a stay of execution of the judgment of the court presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, pending the hearing and final determination of its appeal, noting that the IPOB leader posed a flight risk.
The notice of appeal dated October 18 was signed by the Director, Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, Assistant Chief State Counsel, D. Kaswe and A. Aluko and Senior State Counsel, G. Nweze, Department of Public Prosecution, Federal Ministry of Justice.
The appellant averred that the appellate court erred in law when it held that the trial court had no jurisdiction to try Kanu because of “the extraordinary rendition of the respondent.”
It stated, “There was no evidence led by the respondent before the court of the first instance and indeed before the court below to show how he was allegedly abducted and rendered to Nigeria as required by Section 139 of the Evidence Act, 2011 since he alleged that he was abducted without following due process of law.”
The appellant also contended that the court below erred when it held that the executive arm must not be allowed to benefit from the abduction of the respondent “when in fact and by its judgment, the respondent was allowed to benefit from his illegality of disobeying the orders of the court when he jumped bail and was rewarded with a discharge from the charges pending against him at the trial court thereby occasioning a miscarriage of justice against the state and the victims of the crimes perpetrated by the respondent.”
The Federal High Court in Umuahia, Abia State, will on October 27, deliver judgment on the case of the extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Kanu’s Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed this following the Appeal Court’s ruling, which discharged and acquitted the IPOB leader.
He explained that the ruling of the Appeal Court would not stop the Umuahia Federal High Court.
A statement by Ejimakor on Wednesday reads: “This Press Release is compelled by the avalanche of inquiries I have been receiving from the media and others on whether the judgment set for 27th October at the Federal High Court, Umuahia on the suit I filed on extraordinary rendition will still hold. The answer is: Yes, it will still hold.
“The inquiries are apparently necessitated by the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja on 13th October. Despite this Court of Appeal judgment, the Federal High Court, Umuahia will still proceed with its own judgment on 27th October 2022 as was previously scheduled.
“My office has not received, and we do not expect to receive any notice from the court that the judgment has been adjourned.
“In my awareness that these inquiries mostly emanated from the major and significant impact extraordinary rendition had on the Court of Appeal judgment, I will hasten to add that, despite the common presence of extraordinary rendition, the issues and reliefs before the Court of Appeals in Abuja are markedly different from the issues and reliefs pending judgment before the Federal High Court, Umuahia.
“To be sure, the sole reason for the common presence of extraordinary rendition in both cases is because I had, as far back as August 2021, taken it before the State High court in Umuahia and later to the Federal High court.
“In summary, the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja considered the narrow issue of the impact of extraordinary rendition on the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Abuja to subject Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to trial. Conversely, the issues or prayers before the Federal High Court, Umuahia are many and different from the narrow issue of jurisdiction decided in the Abuja judgment.
“In summary, the case in Umuahia is sui generis as it borders on fundamental rights, whereas the judgment in Abuja bordered on jurisdiction.
“In conclusion, as the public has been previously informed by my clients, there is no Sit-at-home on the judgment day of 27th October, 2022. Please be guided accordingly.”
About 72 hours after being set free by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is still being held in the custody of the Department of State Services.
But Senior Counsel for Kanu and Lead Counsel for the IPOB, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said the legal team would be formally approaching the DSS Headquarters on Monday with the enrolled order of court and judgment of the Court of Appeal, which would be available for immediate compliance.
While citing legal authorities, he said the freedom of Nnamdi Kanu, which was his fundamental and constitutionally guaranteed right, could not be stayed.
Should the government and its security agencies refuse to release Kanu, he said far-reaching extant legal remedies, including reporting Nigeria to international agencies, would be activated to ensure immediate compliance with the court order. Ejiofor said these in an interview with The PUNCH in Abuja.
Nnamdi Kanu: Anxiety in IPOB leader’s Abia community
There are uncertainties in Afaraukwu, Abia State country home of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Newsone Nigeria reports that when the news broke that the Appeal Court had ordered for Kanu’s release, there was wild celebration in the area. However, the hopes that Kanu would join his kinsmen soon became slim after the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami hinted otherwise.
Recall that Kanu was earlier in October 2015, arraigned by Nigerian authorities on an 11-count charge bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms and improper importation of goods, among others.
He was granted bail in April, 2017, for medical reasons. However, Mr Kanu fled the country after an invasion of his home by the military in Afaraukwu, Umuahia, Abia State.
In 2021, Kanu was rearrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria. He was then re-arraigned.
With his people celebrating his freedom, Malami is saying otherwise, with his assertion that Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.
Kanu’s kinsmen from the Ibeku ancient clan in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State are now worried that the Federal Government may not obey the Appeal Court order.
Fresh trouble may be in the offing for the Biafra nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, as the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, clarified that Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.
Malami dropped a hint on Thursday in his first reaction to the Court of Appeal verdict, which on the same day quashed the terrorism charges against Kanu on grounds of his unlawful abduction from Kenya to Nigeria.
A statement from Malami’s office read, “The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has received the news of the decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the trial of Nnamdi Kanu.
“For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.
“Consequently, the appropriate legal options before the authorities will be exploited and communicated accordingly to the public.
“The decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issue that borders on rendition.
“Let it be made clear to the general public that other issues that predate rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination.
“The Federal Government will consider all available options open to us on the judgment on rendition while pursuing determination of pre-rendition issues.
The statement was released by Malami’s Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu.
Newsone reports that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, has discharged and acquired the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of terrorism charges.
This online news platform understands that the Biafra activist Kanu approached the Appeal Court seeking to quash terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Newsone Nigeria reports that the IPOB leader had faulted the order of Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, which ordered him to answer seven out of the 15-count terrorism charge against him.
The IPOB leader had prayed the appellate court to quash the entire charges and set him free on various grounds. He had said the purported offences were not committed in Nigeria.
Ruling on the matter today, Thursday, October 13, 2022, Justice Hanatu Sankey-led 3-man panel of Justices, discharged Kanu.
