The South-East Council of traditional rulers and the representatives of Igbo Archbishops and Bishops have expressed their displeasure over the persistent harassment of the counsels to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently with the Department of States Services.
Recall that Kanu’s lawyers registered their complaints after they were locked out of the courtroom while Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, continued with court proceedings with Kanu’s case on Wednesday.
Reacting, the Igbo group consisting of traditional and religious leaders urged the Nigerian judiciary system to respect the IPOB leader’s human rights to ensure a free trial and establish peace in the South-East.
According to the group, peace will be restored if the Nigerian government could facilitate dialogue with Kanu as earlier mentioned by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
These were revealed in a statement signed by Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Anthony Obinna and Methodist Archbishop of Umuahia, Dr Chibuzo Opoko.
In the copy of the statement made available to SaharaReporters on Saturday, the traditional rulers and bishops commended IPOB for calling off its one-week sit-at-home which allowed Anambra residents to exercise their voting rights during the just concluded governorship election in the state.
They said, “The joint body is highly disturbed by the persistent comments by the IPOB legal team about the difficulties it encounters in dealing with the Department of State Services (DSS) and, especially, the sad event which occurred during the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu appearance in court last Wednesday, November 10.
“The joint body urges the court to affirm the fundamental right of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, his lawyers and other stakeholders. Failure to do so would lend weight to the suspicion in some quarters of a planned secret trial, as well as neutralise all the efforts being made to establish peace in the South-East region.
“The joint body acknowledges the statement by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami SAN, in which he affirmed that the Federal Government was open to a political solution to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case.”