Jarvis Johnson, a member of the Texas House of Representatives who represents District 139, has requested that the Federal Government immediately release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, from detention.
Johnson made the accusations against the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in a statement on Monday. regime accused of carrying out “genocide and crimes against Biafrans.”
He requested that the Nigerian government release the “foremost freedom fighter” immediately, urging the US government to do so.
“Mazi Kanu is Nigeria’s most prominent freedom fighter for oppressed people’s rights. He has been in solitary confinement for more than 19 months since he was kidnapped in Kenya, tortured, and illegally taken to Nigeria. After discussing his case, a United Nations Working Group demanded his unconditional release in July 2022.
The government of Nigeria has not followed through. On October 22, he was cleared by a number of Nigerian trial and appeals courts of all the fictitious charges the Nigerian government had brought against him. Kanu is still being held in solitary confinement by the Federal Government’s (FG’s) Secret Police because the Nigerian government has refused to follow the orders of its own courts.
Nigeria’s secret police have ignored Kanu’s health issues. He hasn’t had access to his regular medication supply or to his doctors. It is now feared that he may die in isolation as his health has deteriorated further.
Kanu’s only offense is that he is the most vocal supporter of a referendum on the Biafran issue and the liberation of all oppressed Nigerians. All democracies are built on the principle of free speech, which includes advocating for political causes. We must all work together to safeguard Kanu’s right to free speech at a time when global democracy is under threat. Our democratic norms are violated by Kanu’s solitary confinement, torture, and illegal kidnapping. The Nigerian government’s willful disobedience to the decisions of its own courts also applies.
“I am requesting Kanu’s immediate release. Nigeria’s government must comply with the UN mandate and its own courts’ orders. Another form of genocide is being carried out by the Nigerian government, one citizen at a time. To put an end to this genocide, I am urging the American government to get involved. We have safeguarded other nations around the world in order to assist vulnerable populations; Johnson stated, “We must do the same for Nigeria and its Biafran citizens.”
According to the PUNCH, Kanu has been held by the Department of State Services since June 2021, when he was re-arrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria by the Nigerian government to continue his trial on terrorism and treasonable felony charges.
A three-member panel of Court of Appeal judges unanimously decided in October 2022 that Kanu’s rendition from Kenya was illegal.
Additionally, the court had previously cleared Kanu of all charges against him.