NBA seeks intervention as lawyers for AGC 2026 get stranded in Delta road

A human rights lawyer, Christopher Chidera, yesterday, faulted the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over its silence on the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, despite what he described as Kanu’s discharge by the Court of Appeal.
 
Kanu was convicted of treason-related charges by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in 2025. He has, however, denied any wrongdoing and has appealed the conviction, which he has claimed is stalled in both the Appeal and Supreme Courts.
 
Chidera, a member of the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium, made the allegations in an open letter addressed to the NBA and copied to the International Bar Association. A copy of the letter was made available to journalists.
 
He alleged that the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu and quashed the charges against him on October 13, 2022, but that eight days later, a civil stay of execution was obtained against the criminal discharge.
 
He said: “The judgment being stayed was not a money judgment. It was not a commercial judgment. It was not an order for payment. It was not an order concerning property.
 
“The state knew what the Court of Appeal had ordered. The state knew Kanu had been discharged. The state continued to keep him in detention.”
 
The lawyer noted that Kanu had earlier spent about 14 months in detention without charge following his extraordinary rendition to Nigeria, and that despite his eventual discharge, the state continued to hold him after the civil stay was obtained.
 
He said the state’s continued detention of Kanu, despite the appellate court’s order, led to contempt proceedings being initiated against the Department of State Services (DSS) and the then Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami.
 
Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawal-Osula v. Lawal-Osula (1995), Chidera argued that a person in continuing disobedience of a court order is not entitled to the court’s discretion in their favour while the disobedience continues.
 
He added: “A court does not reward disobedience of its own order,” he said, questioning why this principle was not applied to the state in Kanu’s case. A court cannot acquire jurisdiction simply because the state needs a procedural route around an inconvenient judgment.”
 
Meanwhile, the NBA has called for urgent intervention following reports that lawyers and other travellers heading to Port Harcourt for the 2026 Annual General Conference (AGC) were stranded on the Oghara–Sapele Road in Delta State.
 
The NBA said the travellers became stranded after two trucks reportedly obstructed the roadway, causing significant traffic disruption and leaving motorists, including lawyers travelling to the conference, in distress since Saturday.
 
In a statement issued by the NBA National Publicity Secretary, Bridget Edokwe, yesterday, the association expressed concern over the safety and welfare of the affected travellers, particularly given the prolonged nature of the obstruction.
 
The association called on the Delta State Traffic Management Authority (DESTMA), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Nigeria Police Force, particularly its traffic section, to immediately deploy personnel and resources to clear the obstruction and restore the free flow of traffic.