Renowned lawyer, Mike Ozekhome
has reacted to the declaration of Nnamdi Kanu and members of the Indigenous
People of Biafra (IPOB) as terrorists.
A statement he signed said
instances cited by the defence headquarters were not sufficient to label the
agitators terrorists.
The military had explained that
the declaration was made for the following reasons: “The formation of a Biafra
Secret Service; Claimed formation of Biafra National Guard; Unauthorised
blocking of public access roads.
“Extortion of money from innocent
civilians at illegal road blocks; militant possession and use of weapons
(stones, molotov cocktails, machetes and broken bottles among others) on a
military patrol on 10 September 2017.
“Physical confrontation of troops
by Nnamdi Kanu and other IPOB actors at a check point on 11 September 2017 and
also attempts to snatch their rifles.”
In his position, Ozekhome, a
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), noted: “I do not believe the instances cited
by the Defence Headquarters to justify declaring IPOB a terrorist organization.
“The last time I checked, I can’t
remember any of such organisation operating in the country being declared
terrorist organisations.
“The herdsmen who go on rampage
daily, maiming, raping, killing; those responsible for the Agatu massacre;
Shiites massacre, Southern Kaduna pogrom, indiscriminate killings, brazen quit
notices’ givers, across Nigeria, etc, have never been arrested, prosecuted, let
alone been proscribed and stigmatised as terrorist organisations.
“We must surely have and operate
two sets of laws for two sets of people in Nigeria. Nigeria, we hail thee. A
government should be seen to be fair to all component parts of Nigeria.”
In his reaction, Rotimi Jacobs
(SAN), said the executive arm of government had the power to make the
declaration.
He insisted that the military ‘‘can speak for the President”.
“It (the declaration) should be
from the executive and I believe the military has the mandate of the President.
“The president has not said
anything to the contrary, so I believe they are speaking the opinion of the
President”.
Another SAN, Samson Ameh, said
the Buhari had the right to declare the group a terrorist organisation.
“The president has the right to
make such a declaration. He has peculiar rights regarding the security of a
country. It’s like declaring a war, in America, it is called the affirmative
action.
“That is what we call the police
action here. Also, the Inspector-General of Police can make the declaration on
behalf of the President”.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com