‘Ohanaeze should oppose, not monitor Kanu’s trial’

• VON DG lauds apex Igbo socio-cultural body
Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, has faulted the reported posture of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on the IPOB leader’s trial, saying the apex Igbo socio-cultural group should have opposed it.

Ohanaeze had, on Sunday, constituted a team of lawyers to monitor the trial.

In a statement yesterday, the counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, expressed disappointment that Ohanaeze resolved to monitor the trial through a team of lawyers instead of kicking against it.

He insisted that Kanu could not be tried on the basis of this extraordinary rendition that brought him to Nigeria, adding: “Those who truly support Kanu do not need to monitor his trial or ensure he gets a fair trial, but should oppose his trial. Their monitoring of his trial gives the impression of bestowing legality to the illegality that brought him to Nigeria.”

According to Ejimakor, while it is commendable that Kanu has attracted such avalanche of support across the spectrum, it is important to make it clear from the outset that there won’t be any trial to monitor.

“That Kanu is a bona fide citizen of Britain, travelling on a British passport when he was unlawfully renditioned to Nigeria from Kenya, should counter more countervailing measures.

“What this means is that, apart from answering to its conscience as a nation, Nigeria shall ultimately answer to Britain, to the international community and even to Kenya, if Kenya succeeds in denying official complicity in the rendition,” he added.

BUT the Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Ikechukwu, has commended the leadership of Ohanaeze for what he described as a democratic stance in Kanu’s matter.

Speaking to journalists in Enugu yesterday, Okechukwu said the stance of the Professor George Obiozor-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide was not only patriotic, but constitutional and democratic.

He said: “I am on this page with Ohanaeze that due process of the law should be strictly adhered to, which they capped with setting up a legal team to monitor the court proceedings. I salute their candour, unlike others who are sentimental.”

Asked what he meant by “sentimental” the VON DG said that some groups had already given Kanu a clean bill of health before the trial even commenced.