The international counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has written a letter to the Nigerian Supreme Court, urging the justices to rule impartially and fairly on his case against the Nigerian government.
Bruce Fein, a US-based lawyer, said the Supreme Court should not be intimidated or bribed Bola Tinubu, who is facing allegations of diploma fraud and drug trafficking in the US.
The Supreme Court will on December 15 rule on the legality of Nnamdi Kanu’s prosecution by the Nigerian government, concerning his illegal arrest and detention at the Department of State Services (DSS). Kanu, who is the leader of IPOB, a group that advocates for the self-determination of Biafrans, was kidnapped and tortured in Kenya in June 2021 and extradited to Nigeria, where he has been held in solitary confinement since then.
Fein, in his letter dated December 2, 2023, said the Nigerian government’s motive was to punish Kanu for exercising his constitutionally protected free speech rights. He cited a recent ruling by a Nigerian High Court in Enugu that declared the government’s outlawing of IPOB as unconstitutional.
He also referred to a decision by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which found that Kanu’s detention violated 16 international human rights covenants and ordered his immediate and unconditional release and reparations.
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Fein said the Nigerian government did not deny that it had conspired with Kenya to commit multiple crimes against Kanu, including attempted assassination, kidnapping, torture, and extraordinary rendition. He said the principle of law that crime should not pay should apply in this case, and that the Supreme Court should not allow the government to profit from its own crimes.
Fein also argued that Biafrans have been denied the right to self-determination through a free and fair independence referendum arranged and conducted by a neutral international body, as the South Sudanese enjoyed in 2011. He said Kanu was seeking to undo the wickedness and avarice of British colonization in Nigeria, which amalgamated distinct peoples, including Biafrans, Yoruba, and Hausa-Fulani, by force in 1914.
Fein said the Supreme Court had a historic opportunity to become a model for other African courts by giving life to judicial independence and upholding the rule of law. He said the justices should not succumb to the pressure or temptation from Tinubu’s camp, which he said was already on life support because of credible evidence of diploma fraud or drug trafficking in the US.
Fein concluded his letter by saying that he hoped the Supreme Court would rule in favor of Kanu and justice, and that he would be ready to assist the court in any way possible. He said he was confident that the court would not disappoint the Nigerian people and the international community.