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| Kanu |
Following torrential calls made to us and concerns expressed
by millions of Nigerians, the media and foreign nationals and bodies over the
ongoing ordeal of detained Citizen Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB) and Radio Biafra (RB) who was given a controversial judicial
bail on 19th October 2015 by the Abuja Municipal Magistrate Court, at Wuse
(Zone 2); the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties & the
Rule of Law (Intersociety) is sad and happy. This follows our latest findings
and updates arising from our latest communications with the Counsel to Citizen
Kanu (Barr Egechukwu Obetta) over the ordeal of the persecuted Biafran self-determination
activist.
We are sad because a new potentially dangerous dimension has
been introduced into the ordeal of the detained Biafran self determination
activist. His detention has now graduated from judicial detention to
extra-judicial detention. That is to say that he is no longer being detained on
the orders of the named Magistrate Court upon the Court’s harshly imposed bail
conditions; rather he is now detained extra-judicially according to
administrative and operational whims and caprices of the Department of the
State Security Services (DSS). These administrative and operational whims and
caprices lately deployed by the DSS are totally unknown to the principles of
the rule of law, constitutional democracy, the 1999 Constitution and local and
international human rights and humanitarian norms.
On the other hand, we are happy because, it is triumphantly
necessary to inform the world that the harsh and draconian bail conditions so
imposed have been met by Citizen Kanu‘s lawyers and associates as at Tuesday,
2oth October 2015 leading to filing of all necessary papers and completion of
their processes in good time. The DSS
ought to or was expected to have completed its verification process by Thursday,
22nd October 2015 and caused Citizen Nnamdi Kanu to be released in compliance
with the order of the Abuja Municipal Magistrate Court, dated since 19th
October 2015. This, the DSS failed woefully to do till date. We wish to further
inform authoritatively that upon meeting all draconian bail conditions so
attached leading to refusal by the DSS to release the detained Biafran self
determination activist, the Presiding Magistrate made an express Production
Order on Friday, 23rd October 2015 for the DSS to produce Citizen Nnamdi Kanu
before his Court same date and explain why it failed to release the detained
Biafran self determination activist upon meeting the imposed bail conditions.
The Production Order was communicated to the DSS by the
Court’s ambassador (bailiffs) and the Magistrate’s orderly yesterday, 23rd
October 2015. Disappointedly, they were sent back by the DSS and the order was
fragrantly and rapaciously disobeyed. As it stands now, the struggle continues
next week! Our heart is further gladdened because Citizen Nnamdi Kanu was
allowed for hours to meet with his lawyer-Citizen (Barr) Egechukwu Obetta where
upon their meeting lasted for hours. According to Citizen Kanu’s lawyer, he was
met as at the evening of Friday, 23rd October 2015, in good health with access
to food of fair health, hygienic and delicious standard as well as access to
physician. We consider this as a departure from previous sad development where
the detained Citizen’s access to his lawyer and physician was blatantly refused
and denied. Other adjudicatory and non adjudicatory processes and arrangements
have been put in place to continue the struggle by the coming week until he is
freed.
Further, it is very important to state that our strategic
roles and involvement in the campaigns to set Citizen Nnamdi Kanu free or be
tried fairly before a court of superior records or competent jurisdiction under
laws clearly written with expressly defined penalties tailored in international
human rights and humanitarian norms; are totally beyond personal sympathy. Such
noble roles of ours are strategically designed to save the country’s
constitutional democracy from transforming into constitutional dictatorship,
authoritarianism and totalitarianism or anarchy.
Various signs of triggers of constitutional dictatorship
have continuously been on increase in Nigeria since 1st June 2015 with the most
shocking being collective silence or leprous opinions of the hitherto
mainstream civil society of the Southwest zone. Our several studies of the root
causes of African dictatorship clearly indicate that dictatorship is often made
possible by collective silence or misguided quietness and conformism of
attentive public (i.e. professional bodies in natural and social science
disciplines, labour leaders, academia, church leaders, media and rights based
civil society organizations and their leaders) otherwise called the Civil
Society. Recent experiences have also shown that the doctrine of checks and
balances is no longer situated among the executive, the legislative and the
judiciary arms of government, but strictly between these three arms of
government on one part and the civil society on the other. The collective
quietness of the civil society in constitutional democracy is a clear recipe
for constitutional dictatorship.
In various African
countries where constitutional dictatorship has been entrenched, it was the
collective silence of the civil society that made it possible. That is to say
that no constitutional dictatorship has
been empirically found to be solely built and entrenched by a small clique of
its operators alone but through
collective conspiracy of silence or leprous concordance with the attentive
public or civil society. In Cameroon today, the constitutional dictatorship of
President Paul Biya has lasted for 33 years (since 1982) and all democratic
pluralistic agents and agencies have been shut up and bottled. In Angola, same
thing happens with President Edwardo Dos Santos being in power for 36 years
(since 1979) with all modern democratic agents grounded in intractability.
This is also replicated in at least 25 other African
countries. Constitutional dictatorship also goes beyond elongation of tenure of
office to include rapacious turning of the State coercive institutions or
establishments against the ordinary or common citizens and members of dissent
community as well as entrenchment of executive lawlessness and impunity. We
wish to sound an alarm and caution all Nigerians particularly the civil society
or attentive public to rise up in defense of the country hard earned
constitutional democracy.
If the excesses of President Muhammadu Buhari administration
are condoned and shepherded by those
destined to speak out on account of civil society-opposition (former)
conspiratorial demographic theory and national cake, their safety and comfort
of today will be that of the graveyard with capacity to turn around and bounce
back on them when another set or section take charge at the expiration of the
tenure of the incumbent particularly if the referenced set or section are the
injured and wounded of today. Running a government of vendetta or
vindictiveness clearly amounts to laying a foundation of intractable sectional
discords and social fragmentation and intractable violence of tomorrow. Nobody
stays in the corridors of power forever and there is even a limit to political
harlotry or leprosy. Political wounds have never been healed by their direct or
indirect perpetrators by running from pillar to pole using vicarious liability
mantra placed upon the heads of their former terror bosses as blame game.
Finally, the courage and boldness of the Counsel to Citizen
Nnamdi Kanu; Barr Egechukwu Obetta, despite sustained threats, frustrations and
stresses is unreservedly commendable. The roles of the Nigerian and
international media particularly the online media in the campaigns to free the
detained Biafran self determination activist are also commendable; likewise the
concerns shown by millions of Nigerians and selected members of the
international community including foreign missions in Nigeria. Amnesty
International, UK and the Human Rights Watch in USA are also singled out for
commendation and appreciation over their interests and roles in the struggle so
far.
We wish to remind all that it is Aluta Continua, Victoria
Acerta (struggle continues until victory is achieved). The campaigns shall take
new dimensions locally and internationally within the ambits of the law if by
the coming week, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is still held extra-judicially by the DSS
acting under direct authorization of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Signed:
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
+2348174090052 (office)
emekaumeagbalasi@yahoo.co.uk, info@intersociety-ng.org
Obianuju Igboeli Joy, Esq., Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law
Program
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