The attention of Igbo Ekunie Initiative, a coalition of professionals in Nigeria and the Diaspora was recently drawn to trial proceedings in Mr Nnamdi Kanu’s case wherein, Justice Binta Murtala Nyako declared that Senator Enyinnaya Abbaribe, who had stood as one of the sureties, must produce Mr Kanu or go to jail. We find this declaration illogical, irrational and indeed against the dictates of natural justice.
We note that Mr Kanu was on bail and was resident in his address until the federal government flouted the law and launched a bloody invasion of his home in full view of a global audience. While dozens of people were brutally killed in Kanu’s residence, Kanu himself has not been seen since the bloody raid. Against this backdrop, and beyond any doubt, the responsibility for first violating the rule of law by invading Kanu’s home and second his consequent disappearance rests on the Nigerian army/federal government.
We note therefore that Justice Nyako’s bizarre and illogical declarations continue to demonstrate that she is working on an agenda and script dictated by the federal government. This is more so considering her demonstrated bias overall in the handling of the Kanu/IPOB case. It’s important to note that several courts had previously granted Mr Kanu and other IPOB activist’s unconditional bail which the lawless federal government refused to obey. Yet when the case came before her court, rather than insist that the rule of law be followed and that the federal government must in the first instance comply with previous court judgements granting Mr Kanu and others unconditional bail, she chose to desecrate her own institution; abdicate her responsibility to dispense justice without fear or favour and become a stooge for the federal government, thereby acting since then on the federal governments persecution script. When eventually she granted Mr Kanu bail under intense public pressure; again acting on the script of the federal government, she imposed impossible conditions that stripped Kanu of his constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights.
The rule of law is the anchor of the modern state and basis for the development of all successful societies. It is supposed to provide hope and succour for the common man against the power and tyranny of the mighty and powerful. Before it; all are supposed to be equal. The fundamental of justice is supposed to remain supreme. We, however, note that justice Binta Nyako’s Kangaroo court has repudiated the essence of the rule of law and now uses her court to advance the tyranny of the federal government against ordinary citizens. In line with the federal government’s agenda, her Kangaroo court of injustice has continued to prosecute/persecute IPOB members even when it is established that they broke no law and acted within their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression and the right to self-determination.
We note the hypocrisy and double standards of the federal government and their stooge Justice Binta Nyako in continuing the prosecution/persecution of non-violent IPOB members in the same country that Fulani herdsmen that are daily killing hundreds of people across the country are never arrested and thousands of murderous Boko Haram terrorists are being released without trial. We are persuaded to ask; how doJustice Binta Nyako and her paymasters sleep at night in the face of such egregious injustice that rivals Apartheid South Africa or Adolf Hitler’s 3rd Reich?
In light of the above; we submit that Justice Binta Murtala Nyako is an agent of the federal government and is acting a script dictated by the federal government. As a consequence, we declare that Justice Binta Nyako is biased, compromised and therefore unfit to dispense justice. That her court is a “Kangaroo court of injustice” which has effectively repudiated the essence of the rule of law and the fundamental dictates of natural justice. We hereby ask Justice Binta Murtala Nyako to redeem herself by quashing all charges against IPOB members and put a stop to the shameful trial/persecution. If she is unable or unwilling to do so, we request that she withdraw forthwith from the trial as her “Kangaroo court of injustice” is unfit and incapable of doing justice to IPOB members.
In closing; we refer to Uthman Dan Fodio who famously warned that “a nation can survive with unbelief but it cannot survive injustice.” Justice Nyako and all those who thrive on injustice/persecution of others must know that by their actions and inactions, they are active players in the injustices that are inevitably leading to the nation’s eventual collapse.
Signed:
Maazi Tochukwu Ezeoke
President Igbo Ekunie Initiative
Email: [email protected]
Lawrence Nwobu
Secretary Igbo Ekunie Initiative
Email: [email protected]
