Don’t Molest Nnamdi Kanu’s Supporters In Court, Lawyers Warns Security Agents

Special counsel to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Mr Aloy Ejimakor has warned against the molestation of his client’s supporters in court on Monday.

He said this in a statement in reaction to media reports that security agents are planning to harass supporters planning to show solidarity with the IPOB leader in Abuja on Monday.

Ejimakor, however, advised Kanu’s supporters to be peaceful even though he is not advising them to turn up in court.

He said, “So, my message to all supporters of Kanu and even to Nigerian government is simple and that is: Everybody should be strictly guided by the rule of law pertinent to why Nnamdi Kanu is facing these tribulations and trials.

“That pertinent rule of law is clearly codified by CAP A9, Laws of Federation of Nigeria, where it is stated at Article 20 that: ‘All peoples shall have the right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination. They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen”.

Ejimakor noted that the provision is the fulcrum of every other crime the Nigerian government is alleging against Kanu, which once the government recognizes that the enterprise upon which Kanu is engaged, is expressly recognized or protected by laws, it will see that dialogue, not trials and violence, is the only legal pathway to containing it.

“I am saying this because the same Law that legalizes self-determination also requires the government to accommodate it. Article 1 of that Law provides that Nigeria ‘shall recognise the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in the Charter and shall undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them.’

“Further, subjecting Kanu to any trial under the circumstances of his extraordinary rendition will face lots of legal challenges. So, what is expected on Monday is not a trial but what Lawyers call ‘taking a plea’ or a re-arraignment on the amended Charges that might be brought.

“Should that happen, the procedure permits taking an adjournment to study the new charges for the purpose of advising the defendant on the next steps. So, there’s nothing significant that will happen on Monday that warrants anybody, including the government, to be jittery,” Ejimakor said.

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