The Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB), has accused the federal government of applying delay tactics to frustrate court cases involving its detained members in various parts of the country.
This was made known in a statement issued yesterday by IPOB Media and Publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful.
According to him, there had been endless adjournments and postponement of court cases involving the group in Nigerian court, as well as the ECOWAS court sitting in Abuja.
He further cited some instances, of cases which had been abandoned indefinitely, thus necessitating continued incarceration of IPOB members.
The statement reads: “the Nigerian judiciary and security operatives, especially the Nigerian army and police, are using the legal system to detain IPOB members without trial, under the guise of adjournment upon adjournment on each of the ongoing cases from Abuja, to Aba, Umuahia, Uyo, Igweocha (Port Harcourt) and Enugu.
“All cases involving IPOB family members are being frustrated by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF). This has made the Nigerian judiciary and their judges willing accomplices to the APC regime of detention without trial, for those holding alternative views to the government.
“Court orders are flagrantly being disobeyed by the same government that appointed the judges delivering these rulings. The case of Bright Chimezie Ishinwa is particularly distressing given that a Federal High Court in Uyo ordered his immediate release, but till today DSS is still holding him and have refused to comply with the court order.
“The case came up again for hearing on November 2, 2017 in Uyo, unsurprisingly and in total disregard for the rule of law, DSS refused to attend the court and also refused to release Bright Chimezie Ishinwa who is languishing without trial at DSS underground detention facility in Abuja.
“The world must tell IPOB where we must go to obtain justice given the failure of the courts to defend the common man.. Nigerian government it seems has been given the judicial license to pick up and detain anybody at will indefinitely at the pleasure of Buhari and his henchmen. This is not democracy, this is not the rule of law, it is the worst form of tyranny.
“By persistently ignoring court orders and rulings of judges, the Buhari administration is inviting anarchy and chaos upon itself. How can a government charge somebody to their own court and when that court, having examined the case, determines that an accused person is innocent, the Buhari regime will still hold on to that person in detention in a supposed democracy.
“What other options are there to seek redress a tyrannical government such as this if not through a campaign of sustained civil disobedience?
“The government of Muhammadu Buhari quickly labelled IPOB a terrorist organisation without due process of law. Now we have challenged them to prove in an open court how IPOB is a terror group, the AGF have decided not to come to court to prove his case.
“This ugly illegal pattern of total disregard for due process of law is repeated in every case involving IPOB. Buhari’s regime keeps talking about peace and security but are themselves the largest contributors to the instability in Nigeria today.
“We wish to reiterate to the hearing of the civilised world that IPOB is and remains the most peaceful freedom fighting organisation anywhere in the world today. We are still wondering why the National Judicial Commission (NJC) would be docile to the point of allowing the legal process in Nigeria to be trampled upon by this Buhari regime.
‘Those who claim to be professionals in the legal field, including the countless Senior Advocates (SAN) that regularly appear on television programs, should understand that their seeming cowardice in the face of this APC tyranny does not speak well of them or their profession.
“We are therefore calling on the international community, human rights groups, well meaning individuals and societies including men and women of goodwill across the globe to question this Nigerian government and her judiciary why we have this incessant postponement and adjournment of IPOB cases.
“We are challenging the Nigeria government of Major General Muhammadu Buhari, especially the AGF to come up with their evidence against IPOB and it’s leadership, instead running around deceiving the public with false and fabricated stories.”
