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Kanu |
It is our investigative and analytical finding that the
original Case File of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and Ors; handled by DSS, has been
doctored, tempered with and handed over to the hostile-media for the purpose of
mocking the judiciary and carrying out trial and conviction by ordeal through
the media. The Case File now has various
versions and filled with doctored and foreign statements; falsely credited to Citizen
Nnamdi Kanu and his co-falsely accused by DSS. A copy of the doctored and
manipulated Case File is presently in possession of the Chief Judge of the
Federal High Court for re-assignment to a new Judge following the aborted
arraignment and commencement of trial of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and ors on 23rd
December 2015. The polluted Case File has remained with the Chief Judge of FHC
for 15 days or over two weeks without being assigned to a new Judge. It is also
our strong suspicion that the version now in possession of the Chief Judge may
most likely have been doctored and manipulated by subversive agents coordinated
by the DSS.
Media & Marketplace Proliferation & Pollution of the
Case File: We had recently revealed a grand conspiracy between President
Muhammadu Buhari, his DSS and some hostile-media outfits particularly the
Nation Newspaper, Punch Newspaper, the Premium Times, the Saharareporters and
the TV Continental, etc; whereby the contents of the referenced Case File were
subjected to grave doctoring, manipulation and media pollution. The doctoring of the Case File by DSS was
followed by seeming erasure of the original statements of the suspects and
insertion of fake third party statements; some of which now make bold headlines
in the hostile-media outfits under reference; all designed to rubbish the
judiciary and incite the public against Citizen Kanu and ors; by projecting
them in bad light and as common street criminals.
Such malicious
headlines are: how Nnamdi Kanu was caught in a hotel room hibernating with a
young lady; Nnamdi Kanu apologizes to Buhari & ors; IPOB members bear
arms-says suspect; I was paid N150, 000 to install Radio Biafra mast, etc.
Interestingly, all the hostile-media outfits that carried the malicious
headlines copiously quoted the DSS and Nnamdi Kanu’s Case File as their
authoritative sources. Till date, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and ors have neither been
arraigned nor their trials commenced in any court in Nigeria. An attempt to
arraign them for trial on 23rd December 2015 was aborted when Citizen Kanu
refused to take plea; citing rapacious flouting of four previous court orders
by the trios of President Muhammadu Buhari, the DSS and the AGF; forcing the
proposed trial judge to withdraw from the case and hand over the Case File to
the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment. It is 15 days
today, yet the Case File is yet to be reassigned and Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and
ors are languishing in DSS custody amidst torture and other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatments or punishments.
Access to their lawyers and relatives have been denied by
DSS particularly since their last brief court appearance on 23rd December 2015.
It is obvious they are being tortured to die inside the DSS dungeon. The
desperation of the Buhari’s chained democratic government may most likely
include murdering them in captivity and under torture. In Criminal trials or
proceedings, if not in all court proceedings, all forms of reportorial preemptions and extra judicial media
reporting are not only prohibited, but also judicially punishable. It is also
judicially criminal to report or quote judicial proceedings out of context, not
to talk of misrepresentation of facts. These judicial sledge hammers are geared
towards ensuring the sanctity of three-traffic-way of justice (justice to the
defendants/accused; justice to the plaintiffs/prosecutors; and justice to the
society) and preservation of integrity of the judiciary or the trial
court/judge. It therefore surprises and saddens us as why the Federal
Government of Buhari, its DSS and hired hostile-media outfits had chosen to
embark on such highly abominable and anti rule of law conducts.
Our further questions are: Why had the Buhari’s
democratically embattled government chosen to be a judge in its own case? Where
lies the important principles of hear the other side and presumption of
innocence until judicially pronounced guilty? Is it not entirely correct to say
that President Buhari has dangerously and impeachably allowed his personal
biases and chronic hatred of the people of the Southeast Zone including Citizen
Nnamdi Kanu to override his supposedly public centered interest as President of
Nigeria? Are these desperate antics of the Buhari’s administration towards
Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and ors not clearly suggesting that Citizen Kanu and ors have
no iota of case to answer? Is it not a clear case of inferiority complex and
pride for President Buhari and his co-travelers in his chained democracy to
refuse to throw in the towel and come out remorsefully apologetic? Is President
Buhari not aware that by his Yorean and cave-era stance; he is steadily pushing
Nigeria to the brink and pro Biafran peaceful agitators to the wall? Where on
earth has judicial violence been successfully used to resolve ethnic
nationality-home State dispute? Does he realize the consequences that will
befall Nigeria of his chained democratic presidency if Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is
physically or mentally tortured to death inside the DSS dungeon?
Torture-Procured Statements of Citizen Kanu & Ors: It is
also our analytical finding that confessional statements of Citizen Kanu and
ors; apart from being doctored and corrupted, are also torture-procured by the
DSS. Apart from torture, which is extreme infliction of physical and mental
pains on a suspect for the malicious purpose of obtaining confessional
statement from him or her to be used against him or her in criminal trial;
other triplet sisters of torture: suggestibility, Reid and deception must have
been applied by the DSS in the so called interrogation (torture) of Citizen
Nnamdi Kanu & ors. In suggestibility method, malicious sleep deprivation or
exposure to continual loud noise is applied. In Reid method, the malicious use
of body language to pin a suspect to alleged crime or force him or her to admit
guilt is applied. In deception method, the torturer extensively applies
divide-and-rule, offer of bribes, gratification, phony promises and falsehood
techniques; and hot-water and cold-water deceptive characteristics. These interrogation methods are universally
abhorred and classified as torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatments or punishments. Nigerian Courts also reject any confessional
statement obtained under duress or torture.
Call for Discharge & Acquittal of Citizen Kanu &
Ors: Following grave damage and harm done to the Case File of Citizen Nnamdi
Kanu & Ors by the Federal Government particularly its administrative
corruption and present proliferation and pollution in market places and
hostile-media; it is a settled and incontestable fact that any trial and
conviction secured from the Case File is totally an affliction of judicial
violence and injustice on the wrongly accused, arrested and detained Citizen
Kanu and ors. A trial of suspects that are already convicted and jailed by
their accusers and their conspiratorial hostile-media outfits is a clear case
of making mockery of justice and rule of law and should be thrown into a trash
can if brought before any trial court in Nigeria.
We therefore call upon the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the
National Judicial Council (NJC), the national leadership of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) and the International Bar Association (IBA) to take judicial
and administrative notices of proliferation and pollution by the DSS of the
Case File of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and ors in the country’s market places and
hostile-media establishments; particularly the Punch, the Nation, the Premium
Times, the Saharareporters and the TV Continental; to the extent that pages of
the doctored Case File are now recklessly and abominably photocopied, posted
and circulated by the likes of Saharareporters on the internet; in the guise of
scoop and exclusive news reporting. To the extent that grave and irreparable
damages have been done to facts and materials of the doctored Case File and the
allegations; it is our considered and grounded position that Citizen Nnamdi and
ors have no case to answer and ought to be freed, discharged and acquitted.
The lawyers handling the matter on behalf of Citizen Kanu
and ors are also called upon not to waste time in entering a no case submission
as soon as the new judge is assigned to the case. Following latest news reports
of possible torturing of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu and ors by DSS and their solitary confinement and denial of
access to their lawyers and relatives; we advise their lawyers to file a fresh
fundamental rights suit on right to life; seeking for the unconditional release
of Citizen Kanu and ors. The Constitutional and statutory safeguards in Section
35 (4) (a) of the 1999 Constitution and Sections 296 (6) of the Administration
of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Act of 2015 should also be judicially invoked by
their lawyers; having been detained beyond time frames set by the Constitution
and the ACJ Act of 2015 (60 days and 28 days respectively). To the extent that Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s
ordeal has moved from prosecution to persecution; and is now an international
matter; his lawyers should do more and be more proactive. This is because the
tone of music has changed; it now requires a combination of law, politics and
strategy. When evil men destroy momentarily, good men must rebuild at all
times!
Eight-Six (86) Days Detention of Citizen Kanu without
Unconditional/Conditional Freedom or Trial: Citizen Nnamdi Kanu had been
detained for a total of 86 days today without any form of release from the DSS
dungeon; having been arrested and detained by DSS since 14th October 2015. This
is a combine and grave violation of Section 35 (4) (a) of the 1999 Constitution
and Sections 293, 295 and 296 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of
2015. Citizen Kanu is also being held without any court remand in Nigeria;
contrary to Section 293 (1) of the Administration Justice Act of 2015 which
forbids any authority or person in Nigeria including President Muhammadu Buhari
from detaining any accused citizen for 24/48hrs without a court remand.
Section 35 (4) (a) of the Constitution, under right to
personal liberty, also forbids detention of any citizen accused of committing
capital offense beyond 60 days without being tried or released on bail.
Presently, Citizen Kanu is on unconditional court release of the Federal High
Court, which President Buhari publicly admitted of observing in breach and as
we write, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is under no other superior or concurrent
jurisdictional trial court remand in Nigeria. He is also not on trial in any
court in court till date.
Call for More Online Signatures to Force Buhari to Obey
Court Decisions & Rule of Law or Resign or Be Impeached: Recall that a
vibrant constitutional lawyer and Georgetown University Law Scholar, Ms Carol
Ajie had on 31st December 2015 launched an online signature advocacy campaign
concerning the subject above mentioned; preliminarily targeted at 1000
signatures to be submitted to relevant national and international
democratic forces and institutions
including President Barak Obama of USA. Though the target of 1000 signatures
has since been met; hitting 2,997 online signatures as at last 24hrs; but there
is need to give the target audience one more chance, before it is formally
declared achieved and moved to the next stage. We appeal to members of the
public with passion for defense and preservation of Nigeria’s constitutional
and pluralistic democracy, human rights and rule of law; to visit the online
link provided below and stand counted by signing the online petition.
https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-respect-court-orders-or-resign-president-buhari-2.
We thank Nigerians and members of the international
community for ignoring and disregarding the activities of undemocratic forces
and elements who are bent on pushing the country to the brink by bending and
gravely misinterpreting the laws and norms on account of their personal
interests and self aggrandizements. The
continued anarchic utterances of the likes of Profs Itse Sagay and Senator Ali
Ndume clearly represent an immortal statement that “when a professor
compromises his or her integrity, he or she becomes a professorial moron and
irreparably loses his or her professorial reasoning and sense of judgment”. We
urge all to steadily observe, record and document the publicly anarchic
utterances of these born again agents of dictatorship and anarchy and use such
to measure them in the nearest future particularly when they must have
exhausted their unholy alliance or marriage of the graveyard with the current
chained democratic government of Muhammadu Buhari.
Signed:
For: Coalition of Southeast Based Human Rights Organizations
(CSBHROs):
1. Emeka
Umeagbalasi (+23474090052
For: International Society for Civil Liberties & the
Rule of Law (Intersociety)
2. Comrade
Aloysius Attah (+2348035090548)
For: Anambra State Branch of the Civil Liberties Organization
(CLO)
3. Comrade Peter
Onyegiri (+2347036892777)
For: Center for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy (CHRPA)
4. Comrade
Samuel Njoku (+2348039444628)
For: Human Rights Club (a project of LRRDC)(HRC)
5. Justus Uche
Ijeoma, Esq.(+2348037114869)
For: Forum for Justice, Equity & Defense of Human Rights
(FJEDHR)
6. Comrade Chike
Umeh ( +2348064869601)
For: Society Advocacy Watch Project (SPAW)
7. Obianuju Joy
Igboeli, Esq. (+2348034186332)
For: Anambra Human Rights Forum (AHRF)
8. Comrade Alex
Olisa(+2348034090410)
For: Southeast Good Governance Forum (SGGF)
9. Jerry
Chukwuokolo, PhD (+2348035372962)
For: International Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights
Initiative (ITERSOLIDARITY)
10. Evlyn Chinwe
Eze, Esq. (+2347019646494)
For: Street Law Africa (LawAfrica)
11. Tochukwu Ezeoke
(IEI) (+447748612933)
For: Igbo Ekunie Initiative (pan Igbo rights advocacy group)
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