By Adesina Soyooye
Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, has taken on Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lead Counsel to IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Ejiofor had tackled Kalu for visiting Kanu in custody at the Department of State Services, DSS, in the absence of Kanu’s Counsels.
The Senator had visited Nnamdi Kanu where both of them had discussions. Kalu, in a statement after his visit, said he advised Kanu on the implications of his (Kanu’s) utterances and actions, disclosing that he has always been close to the Kanu family, having been the one, as Abia Governor, who appointed Kanu’s father a Traditional Ruler.
But Ejiofor had taken an exception to it, insisting that Kalu’s visit to Kanu be investigated. Ejiofor said the visit breached the protocol for visits to Kanu, as ordered by the Court. The protocol, he said, is that Kanu should only receive visitors in the presence of his Counsels.
He said Kanu visited for political reasons and to attract publicity to himself.
And warned against people visiting his Client to put pressure on him, intimidate him, or deceive him on the happenings outside his detention facility.
But in his reaction Senator Kanu berated Ejiofor, saying that Ejiofor seems to be a beneficiary of the crisis in the South-east. He, also, accused Ejiofor of not caring about the fate of the economy of the South-east which is going down because of the sit-at-home order. Nor does he care about the suffering of the people.
Senator Kalu also said that he breached no protocol. It is Ejiofor, he said, who came by 4.00pm, for a 2.00pm appointment. He emphasized that he followed all protocols as ordered by the Court.
Following is the full text of Senator Kalu’s reaction.
“It has come to my notice,
the statement issued by one of the counsels to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, in which I am very disappointed in him. He rightly acknowledged that I was scheduled to visit his client and at the same time, claimed that I violated the guidelines stipulated for visiting his client.
“According to him, he was supposed to be present at the 2pm meeting on Monday.
“Several people, including Barrister Ejiofor, have tried to misinterpret and misinform the public about my visit to my brother, Nnamdi. I also read a report stating that I took pictures with Nnamdi and also tweeted same on my Twitter account.
“For the records, the Department of State Services (DSS) did not break any protocol during my visit as I fulfilled all the requirements expected of me before I saw Nnamdi. The DSS affirmed that I cannot see Nnamdi without the application of his lawyers which I diligently did.
“Probably, Barrister Ejiofor may have expected me to arrive at 4pm for a scheduled 2pm visit. What many people refer to as “African time” is not my style. I strictly keep to time and it is a discipline I have upheld since my childhood.
“I arrived the DSS headquarters at 1:50 PM ; went through the necessary protocols and met Nnamdi at 2:17 PM. I stayed with him until 2: 57 PM. Even though he asked that I stayed longer but I had to leave because of other engagements .
“During my visit to Nnamdi, I did not even take my mobile phone along and no photograph was taken. The photograph people are circulating was the one I took with him when I visited him at the Nigerian Correctional Service Medial Security Custodial Centre, Kuje in 2016 and later, his parents in 2017. My Twitter account has also been inactive .
“I don’t also know if Barrister Ejiofor is aware that Nnamdi is not under compulsion to see anyone. If he didn’t want to see me, he could have as well declined, but he was glad to see me and also expressed deep appreciations.
“Ejiofor’s anger seems to be borne out of vexation of not being around to listen to our conversations. He sounds like someone who is a beneficiary of the crisis. People like him may not see the economic damage the Southeast is experiencing because of the weekly sit-at-home. He does not understand that people can protest in peace without disrupting economic activities and going violent.
“He does not understand that there are people whose livelihood solely depends on daily hustle. If you have people’s interest at heart, you should as well consider their security, economic prosperity and peaceful livelihood.
“I call on Ejiofor to be patriotic, rise above primordial and pecuniary interest and put the interest of the people of the Southeast and the country first.”
