Bruce Fein, a United States of America (USA)-based international counsel and spokesman for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has told justices of Nigeria’s Supreme Court that the decision to free Kanu on December 15, 2023 is in their hands, and should make it a date that will live either in judicial glory or infamy.

Fein, in an open letter addressed to the Supreme Court Justices dated December 2, 2023, stated: “You have set aside that day to render judgment on the legality of Kanu’s prosecution by the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

The letter, which was made available to The Guardian by Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, yesterday, urged the apex court not to be blind to what all the world can see, alleging that everyone knows that the Nigerian Government’s ulterior motive was “to punish Kanu for exercising his constitutionally protected free speech rights to urge self-determination for Biafrans through peaceful avenues of redress.”

Fein consequently tasked the apex court justices to avoid being intimidated or bribed and make December 15 the finest hour of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, as all eyes will be upon them.

He stated that while their decision in favour of Kanu would be overwhelmingly applauded by Nigerian lawyers — a high water mark in the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, he predicted: “The court would become an instant candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nigeria’s upheavals would begin to abate, and, additionally, you would become a model for other African courts by giving life to judicial independence, the secret of domestic tranquility.”

Fein recalled that a Nigerian High Court sitting in Enugu recently held that the government’s outlawing of IPOB for advocating self-determination was unconstitutional.

Also, on July 20, 2022, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council, found that Kanu’s solitary confinement since June 2021 violated 16 international human rights covenants binding on Nigeria, recommending his immediate, unconditional release and reparations.

He posited that the Federal Government has lawlessly ignored the Working Group’s decision for over a year and did not deny that it had conspired with Kenya to have Kanu kidnapped and tortured in Nairobi, subjecting him to extraordinary rendition to Abuja in June 2021 and committed multiple crimes against his person.