Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Australia have declared that they would not abandon their incarcerated  leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, despite his current ordeals.

Kanu currently is serving life imprisonment at Sokoto correctional centre following his conviction by the court on terrorism allegations levelled against him by the federal government.

Leader of the IPOB in Australia, Ifeanyi Onuorah, said Kanu remains the symbol of hope for the restoration of Biafra republic.

He stated that his battles had centered around the liberation of the common man, stressing that present predicament are deliberately churned out to truncate his activism against oppressive leadership of the country.

Onuorah, who was particularly irked by the inability of the federal government to file a defense in regards to the suit filed by Kanu against his conviction, stated that it was time to free him from captivity.

“If the federal government cannot file a defense up till now against his suit over his predicament, despite the 14 days ultimatum issued by the IPOB means that government has no case against him. That being the case, we ask the government to release and discharge him. Let th government stop painting the IPOB in the bad light. IPOB is not a terrorist organisation. It is a responsible organisation. It is a group of Nigerians seeking self determination borne out of the injustices being meted against the Igbo in Nigeria. It is a constitutional right and there is no going back on our demands.

“Using the law enforcement agencies to haunt is not the answer to the justice, fairness and equity we demand from the leadership of the country. We are Nigerians and wish to be treated with as part and parcel of the country, as people with equal stake. Hounding those with opposing views and  clapping them in various Correctional facilities will not solve the problems of the country “, he stated.

Meanwhile, the IPOB on Tuesday queried the continued detention of Kanu “under a dead repealed statute which the laws of Nigeria- including its constitution- says should not happen”.

A statement  by the Media and Publicity Secretary of the IPOB, Emma Powerful, said that the Nigerian government had  filed nothing in the Court of Appeal within the specified  period of the  constitution against the appeal by Kanu.

Wondering why the Court of Appeal has refused to list the case, even when the time frame allowed for filing had elapsed, it stated that it was not justified and wondered why the government would dictate the outcome in the courtroom.

“In a serious and civilised criminal jurisdiction, a respondent who files nothing loses the argument. In Nigeria, a respondent- the Nigerian government in this case- who files nothing is protected by the courts. The fraudulent and illegal conviction is allowed to stand. The wrongfully convicted defendant stays in prison. The judge that entered the illegal conviction remain in office. The appeal court file disappears into a black hole called “court process.”

“Let nobody think this is ordinary court delay, congestion, or complexity. The Nigerian state screamed terrorism, rushed a trial and obtained a dubious conviction without credible evidence of wrong doing and now to put one page on the appellate record to defend the conviction they cannot do it. Nigeria has nothing to say because there is no living law to cite and Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu commited no crime known to law.

“The Court of Appeal has refused to list and hear the appeal because listing it would force James Omotosho’s  conviction into the open and would make Nigerian judiciary the laughing stock of the civilised world. What is left of the credibility of the Nigerian judicial system would ground into the dust”, the statement said.

The statement wondered why the same Court of Appeal  which discharged Kanu on 13 October 2022, and constituted  a special panel to stay that discharge and keep him locked up would not do the same and list the case.

“That is not a busy court. That is a court that knows which way power blows. When the Nigerian government needed speed, the judiciary ran. When the prisoner needs his case listed, the judiciary refuses to move.The contrast is the case. The hypocrisy is the record”, the statement added

The statement asked the international community to stop “treating Nigeria as a normal criminal jurisdiction that happens to be slow”,.  It said the country,  is a political machine that uses courts to “ratify predetermined outcomes” and then uses “process” to prevent those outcomes from being tested.