Published by Uchechi Collins on Sunday, November 20, 2016. @ 11:11 AM
IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu and his lawyer in court |
By Ifeanyi Chijioke
November 20, 2016
I have decided to come to this point because of the local and international interest in Nnamdi Kanu’s case. Each Court case; I am always faced with questions and forced to go on endless analysis of the day’s proceedings and subsequent acts. My professional friends from BBC, VOA and to the least of the local media houses would always want to get an update and which we would further debate within ourselves. At the end of today’s (17/11/16) Court hearing; a particular friend whom I met during the time BBC granted me interview asked: “What can stop the trial Judge from granting your leader bail on the next hearing?”
I have never been to the Court in person; I prefer to stay back and write the information given to me by my colleagues. On this adjourned date- 1st December 2016; I shall come to the High Court to receive Nnamdi Kanu who would be granted bail because, by the time you read to the last paragraph of this piece, you will come to the conclusion that there is no counter affidavit worth stopping the bail grant to Nnamdi Kanu.
This case has gone on for nearly a year and two months; I am very much convinced that we are coming to the end of this truncated and disgracing matter. Permit me to term this matter a disgrace; I could not believe that the matter would linger to this extent. Self-determination is a right signed into law by Nigeria and Nnamdi Kanu to have peacefully gone about this in spite of all provocations that followed; he deserves to be applauded than illegally incarcerated in prison. I had expected the Judiciary to interpret to the prosecution that by virtue of the UN Charter as domesticated that Nnamdi Kanu has done nothing but followed the law hence he is peaceful. Treasonable felony; illegal organization, and so on are just mockery of this lawless contraption.
The first trial Judge; Justice Ademola found this very matter embarrassing; he made it clear that the evidence provided to the Court could not buttress the charges against Nnamdi Kanu, thereby making the charges trumped up charges. The Court in its wisdom discharged and acquitted Nnamdi Kanu, but Muhammed Buhari flouted the order of the Court and said in his maiden media chat that he would not release Nnamdi Kanu. He described his purported crimes as atrocities - which are possession of dual passport; cherished of freedom of speech via Radio Biafra and immigration offence charges.
Then the second trial Judge took over the case when Ademola resigned as a result of noncompliance with his order- Justice John Tsoho. Bail application was brought before the later and after the argument; he quickly ruled that Nnamdi Kanu will not be granted bail for these frivolous reasons:
1. That the accused persons have not accepted to stop or desist from the crime that brought them to the Court in the first place. We looked around and assessed what was defined as a crime by the trial Judge but could not see any. Is self-determination rightly respected all over the world a crime because Nigeria is alien to the world? Is IPOB crime because it was not registered under Nigerian government but legally with British government? Is freedom of speech as done through radio Biafra instead of carrying arms a crime? This reason took everyone by surprise; the trial Judge to have placed on accused persons that pleaded not guilty as guilt was a total disgrace of the law and ethics. It contradicted everything known in the legal institution; shamelessly, the trial Judge anchored his reason on that.
2. That the accused persons are a flight risk. This was considered harsh and premeditated as the law obviously said that persons accused of such crimes should be entitled to bail. With the already seizure of the passports of the accused persons; then I ask, who again are they flight risk? It is very obvious that once your passports are seized that flight risk dies.
3. That the accused persons are threat to national security. This is the worst of the frivolous reasons bail was denied. It was quite disheartening that the prosecution came up with such bogus claim without proof and it was allowed to stand. The accused had been existing and going about their agitation without being a threat to national security until they were arrested and they became a threat. The accused persons have never had a record of violence and have endured all provocation that could result to threat to even the street. The accused persons are gentlemen that chose peaceful agitation over armed agitation and instead of applaud them, and they are illegally approached.
These were the three major reasons bail application was denied by the last trial Judge and that sprang suspicions that later became visible with controversial ruling on secret trial. One certain thing is; these frivolous reasons cannot stand in any unbiased Court of law.
However, it is on this basis that I shall answer the question, what can stop the trial Judge from granting Nnamdi Kanu bail? From every indication; the prosecution approached the Court once more with ‘National Security’ phrase. It is understandable that the prosecution is begging for favour and not justice. By bogusly claiming that Nnamdi Kanu is a threat to national security without any atom of point to buttress or back it up is more or less a joke. The Court cannot rightly stand or heed to a baseless claim or else there is a prior agreement, or it is a staged Court.
Justice Binta Nyako must understand that this is a matter with international awareness and the world is waiting earnestly for her. It would be to the detriment of the Country-Nigeria to keep Nnamdi Kanu in prison with the emergence of Donald Trump who had declared that self-determination is a sacred right of the people as Nnamdi Kanu stands for. It becomes a profanity to continue to perpetrate injustice on Nnamdi Kanu by doing the bidding of the President who said he would not allow any Court in Nigeria to release Nnamdi Kanu.
Denial of bail application for Nnamdi Kanu is not on the table; it is impossible unless there is ulterior motive. The charges brought before the Court have no evidence to buttress it and denial of bail pending the trial will be trampling on human right. By virtue of the charges before the Court; it is within the law that Nnamdi Kanu shall enjoy bail pending the conclusion of his trial. As I have always maintained; the Court must not be the scapegoat; the Court must bravery do justice to liberate or save its face and then the executive can flout as always.
There is no reason left whatsoever to continue to deny Nnamdi Kanu bail; he is a political prisoner, and the Judiciary has done a little to be the champion of a common man. Do not label this piece prejudicial; just take your time and assess the truth or argument therein and you will be convinced that there is nothing whatsoever that can stop Binta Nyako from granting Nnamdi Kanu bail. But should she defy justice; we must continue and know that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. We must keep fighting injustice which is primarily corruption because we are whiter than white and know no corruption.
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