‘Military operation in south east, a declaration of war’
The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has expressed shock over the ruling of Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja that the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and three others be held in secret.
In the same vein, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) condemned the judgment, restating its support for the realisation of Biafra.
MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu, yesterday said the movement would continue to stand with “our incarcerated comrades” in prison for the sake of Biafra.
Nnamdi Kanu
Also, the National President of the Igbo Think Tank, Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike has criticised the decision of the court acceding to the request of the Federal Government to try Kanu in secret.According to Uwazurike, a Lagos-based legal practitioner, the trial of the Radio Biafra director had assumed political trial in all ramifications.
CLO’s National Chairman Ibuchukwu Ezike described the ruling as strange and a demonstration of lack of competence, asking the Chief Justice of Nigeria to call the trial judge to order.
According to the CLO, “The court cannot be used by dictators to abuse the due process of the law and infringe on the rights of the citizens. It is reprehensible, a shame and indeed despicable.
“We make bold to say that the right to self-determination is not a crime but a legitimate aspiration of all peoples all over the world to enforce their right to freedom or independence, choice of the political system and a government under which they desire to operate and live in. It is a right protected by the provisions of the United Nations and African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights,” Ezike said.
The CLO said Justice Nyako’s ruling to try them in secret was in total disregard for human rights.
In another development, the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU) led by Dr. Arthur Nwankwo has said that the Operation Python Dance recently launched in the southeast was part of the on-going plot by the government to “annihilate” Ndigbo.
Rising from their delegates’ conference, which held in Enugu yesterday, EMU, which reviewed the situation of the Igbo in the present administration.
