By Charles Ogbu.
In my view, the back and forth on Nnamdi Kanu is not necessary as any OBJECTIVE mind could see that the issues are quite straightforward.
When a govt goes extra mile to EXTRA-ORDINARILY rendition a man on terrorism-related accusations, the least expected of that govt is to ensure an EXTRA-ORDINARILY SPEEDY trial for such a man to determine his guilt or innocence. *The failure of the Nigerian state in this regard is criminally inexcusable*. Even the argument that it is Kanu’s lawyers that are delaying the trial falls flat under the slightest scrutiny because in a WORKING SYSTEM, no defense lawyer should be able to influence the judicial process enough to prolong a criminal trial this long especially considering how Finland started and concluded Simon Ekpa’s trial within just 2 years.
Loading ...Hasten up Nnamdi Kanu’s trial and if he’s found guilty, let him be held accountable but if he’s found innocent, let him go home to his family. If he takes ill in the course of his trial, let him be made to go for treatment after which he would return to face his trial because a suspect has to be alive before he can be held to account. The only reason this is even a subject of argument is because ours is a broken society presided over by broken men.
On Omoyele Sowore’s planned protest calling for Kanu to be freed, that *is completely within Sowore’s right to so do but it CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be termed “an Igbo project for the release of Kanu”* because it is not. THIS IS SOLELY SOWORE’s PROTEST and only him knows exactly what he wants to achieve with that. To begin with, even a moron knows that at this stage, *Kanu’s case can only be fixed either through the court or a political solution negotiated by leaders of the Southeast, not any nzogbu nzogbu method or a protest*. Even if the govt had plans of releasing Kanu very soon as was alluded to by Abia governor Alex C. Otti a few days ago, *Sowore leading any protest in this regard will only delay it as neither Tinubu nor the DSS would ever want to be seen to be bowing to Sowore_*. I’m certain that this fact is not lost on the Sahara-Reporters publisher which leaves the question, WHAT REALLY DOES HE AIM TO ACHIEVE WITH THE PROTEST which is already being ERRONOUSLY tagged Igbo protest? Does he GENUINELY believe that marching to Aso Rock with some activists and opposition politicians (I am 100% certain that no Igbo governor will join) will lead to Kanu being released? Or is there another agenda? *This question is important because we have seen the likes of Reno, Asari Dokubo, Deji Adeyanju, Femi Fani-Kayode and a whole lot of others play similar stunt on the emotion of Igbos some of whom are ever ready to fall for anything without asking question* and we all know how they all ended.
I have come across a few arguments mostly from non-Igbos berating Igbos who refuse to join in demanding Kanu’s unconditional release. The proponents of this argument are quick to refer to Northern bandits who are being pampered by the govt as though crime is now a position that is shared in line with FEDERAL CHARACTER. *Truth is, today, the greatest danger Ndigbo face in AlaIgbo is not from Fulani or any outside enemy but from fellow Igbos masquerading as Biafra agitators*. Kanu did Ndigbo and AlaIgbo dirty. The damage he caused can never be fixed even in a million years. He successfully convinced millions of Igbo youths that it is okay to do just about anything including killing and maiming fellow Igbos as long as it is done in the name of Biafra agitation. Via his broadcasts, *he gave SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS to millions of his followers to kill FELLOW IGBOS even if it was a bus driver or a sachet water hawker who came out on a certain 31st Monday* slated as Biafra Memorial Day which he had declared as Sit-At-Home day. That was a man who claimed to be our Moses ordering the spilling of IGBO BLOOD on May 31st which ought to be a sacred day for Ndigbo to remember millions of their kind who perished in a war they were fated to fight and even more fated to lose. And *this was where IPOB got the inspiration for their Monday-Sit-At-Home* which cost Ndigbo so many lives and billions in material/business losses. *He issued orders for fellow Igbos who disagreed with him to be stoned*. In another broadcast, *Kanu ordered his followers numbering millions to ‘k!ll and bury alive’ any Igbo person parading as IPOB member without belonging to a known IPOB unit in their area. That was a direct order to k!ll factional IPOB members*. Yet, in another broadcast, he openly and emphatically endorsed Simon Ekpa (yes, the same Ekpa that is currently in Finnish jail for terrorist activities he ordered in the Southeast, Kanu actually endorsed Ekpa as a man doing “a fantastic job” and introducing “a different dimension” to the Biafra struggle and ordered his millions of followers to follow Ekpa and ensure they share every of his videos. Today, results of these instructions are visible throughout AlaIgbo.
*Most Igbos joined Kanu’s biafra agitation, not because he did or said anything extraordinary but because his movement was seen as a resistance against the brazen in-your-face mistreatment of Ndigbo by the late Buhari but he ended up weaponizing our emotional investment in Biafra and using same to hurt AlaIgbo deeply*. Our region lost its innocence and we began preying on one another with brothers killing brothers. Our republican nature was abolished and divergent views proscribed with threats and death as its punishment. Our region changed from being the most peaceful region to become a place where Igbos outside AlaIgbo became afraid to visit for any event or come out on Mondays or even sleep with two eyes closed. Many villages like Orsu, Orlu, Okigwe, Ihiala are yet to fully recover even as I type. Many families are still in mourning. All the atrocities of Simon Ekpa were taken from Kanu’s playbook because in truth, there is absolutely nothing that Ekpa did that Kanu didn’t do.
*So Igbo people negatively affected by Kanu’s activities HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DEMAND THAT HE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE*.
I’ve read arguments that it was the late president Muhammadu Buhari-led FG that radicalized the Kanu led pro-Biafra group by unleashing unnecessary violence on them with full support of the David Nweze Umahi-led Southeast Governors Forum at a time the group was just a peaceful unarmed flag-waving boys marching the streets. This is true. I have followed and documented the activities of the pro-Biafra groups for years including the many cases of extra-judicial killings against them. *Matter of fact, I was the person that published the phone numbers of every southeast governor* on the night Buhari’s soldiers murderously invaded Kanu’s home with our governors refusing to at least issue statement of condemnation. So more than many, I am not unaware of Buhari’s evil role in this *but BUHARI CANNOT BE THE REASON IGBO SONS ARMED THEMSELVES TO START KILLING FELLOW IGBOS AND SACKING THEM FROM THEIR VILLAGES*. So this argument is not tenable.
Just so we are clear, my position is that Kanu should be given medical treatment if he’s sick after which he should be subjected to a FAIR and SPEEDY trial to determine his guilt or innocence. Anything short of this is not JUSTICE.
