Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has directed IPOB members on the seven rules they must keep while he awaits the ruling of the Supreme Court on his case.
The seven things were disclosed by Ifeanyi Ejiofor, one of Kanu’s Counsels, after a visit to him, on Thursday, at his Department of State Services’ detention facility.
Kanu is in the custody of the DSS on the orders of a Federal High Court, Abuja, which has been trying him for sundry issues bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism brought against him by the Federal Government.
But a couple of weeks ago, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, discharged and acquitted Kanu of all charges, based on the fact that it declared his extraordinary rendition from Kenya, in June, 2021, illegal, which it said renders any other charges against him null and void.
The Court ordered his immediate release from custody. The charges quashed by the Court of Appeal were eight, as the Federal High Court had already quashed seven out of the 15-count charges against him.
But an appeal against Kanu’s release, filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, for stay of execution of Kanu’s release, was granted by the same Court of Appeal.
Kanu appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. It is the ruling of the SC that he is, now, waiting for. And while he does that, he has appealed to IPOB members to keep, strictly, to the following directives, according to Ejiofor.
“1. That this critical time calls for the greatest circumspect among his followers because the enemies are relentlessly exploiting the vulnerable, to sustain their status quo, and further blackmail the IPOB, ably led by Nnamdi Kanu, which is a peaceful self-determination movement.
“2. He has a hard stance in the condemnation of crimes and dissidents and reiterated that he has never condoned nor supported criminality of any form. Hence, the criminal elements who are involved in making lives unbearable to our people should be immediately fished out and dealt with as such. They have no place in IPOB’s peaceful self-determination movement.
“3. That the general public and indeed his people should be notified in unmistaken terms that nobody is receiving any instruction from him for the purpose of encouraging dissidents’ behaviours and accordingly, disassociates himself from any person(s) who is mischievously feeding the public with such blatant falsehood. Kanu stressed that he has since made his stance public, which position is clearly contained in a viral short clip, recorded during one of his appearances in Court.
“4. Kanu reiterated his call for total calmness in the entire South-East region and particularly queried the mental state of those who are relentlessly waging war against his people, the very people he had sworn to protect and make life better for.
“5. Kanu’s movement was founded on a peaceful bedrock, in consonance with the universally recognized rights of indigenous people to self-determination, as clearly encapsulated under the extant laws.
“6. That the activities of the dissidents/marauders who engage in criminal activities have further emboldened the Nigerian security agents, to unleash terror on innocent people of the South-East region. The court rulings in his favour might not go down well with the Federal government, thus asking his supporters to be peaceful and calm to avoid being blackmailed.
- “In conclusion, Kanu reminds Umu Chineke to note that the successive landmark victories he recently recorded in various Courts of competent jurisdictions against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), may not have gone down well with his traducers, including the FGN. Hence, he insists that all hands must be on deck to enable saner minds to identify the real enemies in our midst, and those being used by the establishment to try to implicate and/or blackmail him.”
He added: “From every indication, it is very likely that a date will soon be assigned at the Supreme Court of Nigeria for the hearing of Kanu’s Appeal against the Order staying the execution of his judgment. We will not hesitate to inform Umu Chineke, through the approved channel once a date is given.”
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