The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra worldwide I was born in Isiama
Afara, Abia State, Nigeria. His father is HRM Eze Israel Okwu Kanu
(JP) and his mother is Ugoeze Nnenne Kanu.
He attended Library
Avenue Primary School (now part of Government House, Umuahia) and went to Government
College for his
secondary education. He later gained admission to the University
of Nigeria Nsukka(UNN), where he
could not finish due to incessant strikes before he left for London to complete
his tertiary education.
Arrest
On October 18, 2015, it was reported that Mr Kanu had been arrested in Lagos
State by Nigeria’s secret
police the Department of State Services (DSS).
Mr Kanu had told his solicitors that he was, on 14th October, 2015, arrested by the agents of the
Federal Government of Nigeria, the State Security Service (SSS) in his hotel room
i.e. Golden Tulip Essential Hotel Ikeja, Lagos
State. The solicitors in a press briefing said, between
14th and 17th October, 2015 their clients whereabouts were unknown until 18th of
October, 2015, when the Press Media broke the news of his arrest and detention
by the SSS in Abuja.
The news of the arrest of Mr
Kanu generated mass protests across parts of Delta
State, Enugu State, Rivers
State, Cross River State, Abia State, Imo State, Lagos
State, Bayelsa State, Akwa
Ibom State and Anambra State.
Continued detention
On October 19, 2015, it was reported
that Mr Kanu had been granted bail after a secret arraignment at
Magistrate Court,Wuse 11. However, the bail seemed "controversial" and
there were claims the DSS announced the bail only "to calm the angry
people of Biafra” Although the bail conditions were stringent some of which
required the Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property within Abuja municipality, a
level 16 officer in the Ministry, Mr Kanu's lawyer said they eventually met the
requirements in full. However, “upon the issuance of the Form 36,the
court ordeal went to execute the order but came back unsuccessful. He was
unable to produce the prisoner. The lawyer, Vincent
Obetta, called the continued detention of
the activist despite meeting his bail conditions "a clash between judiciary
and executive" in a democratic Nigeria. According to Mr Obetta, "I have
not seen or heard any place where a court grants bail and the person is not released. Under UN and Africa charter,
it is enshrined that once bail is granted,
you release the person upon meeting the
bail conditions. We are sliding to days of Decree 2 and 4 of 1984. This is pure Dictatorship.”
A Conservative minister said the
British consular officials will visit Mr
Kanu following enquiry from the activist's constituency MP, Harriet Harman. James Duddridge, Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs confirmed that Kanu, had been visited
earlier by members of the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office but that he did not ask for British
consular assistance.
Court jurisdiction
The
Magistrate Court 1 sitting in Abuja on November 18, 2015 ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to produce Kanu, at the court on November 23,
2015. However, it was
reported the Department of State Services (DSS) obtained a "secret court order to detain
Nnamdi Kanu. Kanu's lawyer, Mr Obetta in an interview said whilst "in
court, the prosecutor gave him a document containing a court order permitting
the Department of State Services (DSS) to detain Mr Kanu for the next three months to
"conclude what they said was an investigation of terrorism and terrorism
financing"
Charges and court trial
Kanu was finally arraigned on
November 23, 2015 in an Abuja Magistrate Court for the first time for
charges of "criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal
organisation by Nigeria's Department of
State Services (DSS). They charges violate "Section 97,
97B and 397" of Nigeria's penal code. Chief
Magistrate .S. Usman had at the last adjourned date, berated the Department of
State Services (DSS) over its failure to produce Kanu in court
on two consecutive times the matter came up before the court. Meanwhile, Kanu's
supporters, stormed Nigeria's capital city of
Abuja in luxury buses on a peaceful protest for their leader who was arraigned
by the Federal Government before the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court, Abuja on
November 23, 2015. Pro-Biafra protesters with placards sang and
danced outside the court premises whilst hearing proceeded. Protesters wore
T-shirts and caps with inscriptions like “Biafra Now or Never”, “Buhari Release
Kanu For Us”, “On Biafra We Stand”. More
protests by IPOB members numbering over 15,000 grounded vehicular movements the
southeastern key economic city of Onitsha concurrently. It was the same by
over 20,000 protesters in Aba, Abia State on the same day.
Kanu, through his counsel filed an
application asking the federal authorities to transfer him from the custody of
the Department of
State Services (DSS) to prison. His lawyer, Obetta, insisted
that transferring his client to prison would enable him have easy access to his
legal team.
Whilst in court, the Department of
State Services (DSS) requested the Wuse Zone 2 Senior
Magistrates’ Court, to discontinue the trial of Nnamdi Kanu under section
108(1) of administration of criminal justice act 2015. Mr Idakwo further said
the Department of
State Services (DSS) had obtained an order from the Federal
High Court, Abuja, dated November 10, to detain the accused
in its custody for 90 days. However, Kanu's lawyer, Mr Obetta objected the
continued detention of his client. Obetta, prayed the court not to discontinue
the case because the prosecution did not present any information from the
Attorney-General of Nigeria Federation who had the authority to approve such.
Obetta also told the court that "the DSS violated the order of the court
which granted bail that was perfected but not granted, adding that the accused
had been in Department of
State Services(DSS) custody since he was arrested. The court's
magistrate, Mr Usman Shuaibu, after listening to both counsels, adjourned the
matter until December 1, 2015 for ruling.
Source wikipedia.org
No comments:
Post a Comment