World Igbo Congress urges FG to abide by court rulings, free Kanu

Apex Igbo organisation in the Diaspora, World Igbo Congress (WIC), has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to honour the rule of law, adhere to court rulings, and release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, “without further abuse of his fundamental rights.”

The Federal High Court in Umuahia, Abia State, entered a judgment on January 18, 2022, that condemned the invasion of Kanu’s family house by the military and described it as “notorious and brazen.” The trial judge, Benson Anya, in his ruling, ordered the government to pay N1 billion and render an apology to the IPOB leader. This court ruling did diminish the impressed notion that Kanu jumped bail in 2017 as the government has alleged.

The congress noted that Igbo leaders have pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to allow for a political solution to the matter, as he insisted that he would respect whatever the judiciary decides in Kanu’s case. Several months after the court judgment, World Igbo Congress is now demanding that President Buhari respects the court order, instead of grandstanding and ordering the security operatives to shoot at sight, abducting peaceful agitators.

“Some of these actions have exposed the grave injustice and unfairness to Ndigbo.

“WIC is, therefore, informing the international community of the growing religious intolerance in Nigeria, where a non-Moslem female student was accused of blasphemy and stoned/killed on the street.” The group noted that it would not excuse leaders who choose to turn a blind eye to such travesties and allow the egregious, systematic violation of citizens’ rights in Nigeria. WIC Spokesperson, Basil Onwukwe, therefore, appealed to the international community to intervene in Nigeria for “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”