Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Chiefs Clifford Okoye, Maurice Efobi, and Sam Chukwukelu, three lawyers, have cautioned the Federal Government about the repercussions of rejecting the latest UN demand to free Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the IPoB leader, from custody.
Recently, the UN has asked that Kanu be unconditionally released from detention because, in their opinion, Kanu is merely fighting for the independence of his Biafran people and as such, his actions do not yet justify such arbitrary confinement.
However, while never having issued a definite yes or no statement to that effect, the Federal Government has neglected to follow the UN’s call, and Kanu remains still detained by the Directorate of State Services (DSS).
However, Okoye, Efobi, and Chukwukelu, who spoke to newsmen about the development, argued that the Nigerian government shouldn’t treat the UN’s statement with the same contempt with which it disregards or disobeys court orders and escapes punishment.
Okoye said in particular: “I want to thank the UN for lending its voice to Nigeria’s internal affairs as a member nation under it and Nigeria should be a country where freedom of speech and expression are observed. Okoye was formerly the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Aguata branch in Anambra State.
Because treason is not a capital offense punishable by the death by hanging, Kanu is entitled to bail. I remember the military’s assault on Kanu’s residence in Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia, Abia State.
The UN proclamation, Okoye said, “has a mechanism of enforcing their activities against any deviant countries under it,” despite the fact that it is just persuasive and not binding.
Efobi, who was also a former NBA branch chairman in Idemili, claimed that because Nigeria is a member of the League of Nations, we are required to abide by any decisions made by the UN. As a result, our only choice is to follow the umbrella organization.
