Nnamdi Kanu: Supreme Court disappointed us – Ndigbo

A cross section of South East professional bodies, associations and individuals have continued hitting the Supreme Court hard for its inability to free Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on December 5, 2023.

By insisting that Kanu must face trial, the Supreme Court went contrary to the judgement of the federal high court and that of federal court of appeal that had freed and acquitted Kanu on the treasonable charges preferred against him by the federal government.

Leading the list of those who condemned the supreme court verdict on Kanu is the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, (MASSOB). In a release made available to Business Hallmark, MASSOB’s leader, Comrade Uche Madu, expressed shock and disappointment on the ruling of the apex court.

He said, “Since Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was earlier discharged by the federal high court and appeal court, it was expected that the apex court would uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s judiciary, but it sadly failed to redeem the battered image of the Nigerian judiciary which was messed up during the presidential election petition cases”.

Madu noted that the failure of the supreme court to allow Kanu to go home had deepened Nigerians lost of confidence in the judiciary even as it would cause severe democratic problems for the country in the long days ahead.

A community leader in Aboh Mbaise, Chief Mark Enyeribe, stated that he had expected the supreme court to have released Kanu as a way of ending the now notorious insecurity in the South East.

“After both the federal high court and appeal court ruled in favour of Kanu, I was all hopes that the supreme court would follow suit but all my hopes and that of many others in the country, particularly Ndigbo’s were dashed. The consequence is that we in the South East would still be left in the dark because IPOB would go back to the trenches and be declaring sit – at – home every now and then. I don’t want to believe that the supreme court and the federal government are promoting or enjoying this perpetual insecurity which has been raging in our region for more than three years now”, Enyeribe enthused.

A group known as Coalition for Peace and Order in South East in a statement said it accepted but disagreed with the judgement of the supreme court.

According to its spokesperson, Comrade Nduka Iwunjoku, “The supreme court is the apex court in the country. We accept its ruling because we cannot be seen as a violent body but we disagree with its verdict.

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” We are saying this because it has been established that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was illegally and wrongly arrested in Kenya and against international laws, bundled home from there. Thus, you cannot build an illegality on illegality.

“That was fundamentally why the two earlier competent courts of jurisdiction – high court and appeal court – freed and acquitted Kanu. Unfortunately, the supreme court upturned those two judgements. And it is sad”.

A trader at the Main Markwt, Onitsha, Igwe Daberechi, Anambra State looked at it purely from the point of business, trade and commerce. He gave knocks to the supreme court as he queeried how the traders would risk their precious lives and wares as IPOB would now commence its deadly stay – at – home order, perhaps starting from January, 2024.

Since Kanu was thrown into detention about three years ago, his Biafra agitation group, IPOB, has been declaring sit – at – home in solidarity with him. Besides, this has sparked off all manner of insecurity activities in the South East as some criminal elements have taken advantage of the ugly situation to cause wide range of criminalities, including killings, armed robberies, kidnappings and cultisms.

For instance, the entire Orlu Zone in Imo State and some parts of Okigwe Zone, have been in turmoil in the past three years. The insecurity activities gave rise to what is popularly known as “unknown gunmen” which has created panic, fear and security concerns in all parts of the South East.

Be it in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, the continued detention of Kanu had given rise to security breaches as security operatives and IPOB clashes had resulted to many deaths of innocent persons. In Imo, its more than 200, in Abia, it is estimated to above 150, in Anambra, more than 120, while in Ebonyi and Enugu, over 100 deaths have been recorded in each state.

The fear is, from January, IPOB, particularly the faction loyal to Finland based Simeon Ekpa, might renew its call for sit – at – home thereby worsening the already insecurity and suffering in the South East, a factor which would have been effectively forestalled had the supreme court ruled for Kanu’s freedom and release.