The Indigenous People of Biafra (
IPOB), has accused the federal government of applying delay tactics to frustrate
court cases involving its detained members in various parts of the country.
This was made known in a
statement issued yesterday by IPOB Media and Publicity secretary, Comrade Emma
Powerful.
According to him, there had been
endless adjournments and postponement of court cases involving the group in
Nigerian court, as well as the ECOWAS court sitting in Abuja.
He further cited some instances,
of cases which had been abandoned indefinitely, thus necessitating continued
incarceration of IPOB members.
The statement reads: “the
Nigerian judiciary and security operatives, especially the Nigerian army and
police, are using the legal system to detain IPOB members without trial, under
the guise of adjournment upon adjournment on each of the ongoing cases from
Abuja, to Aba, Umuahia, Uyo, Igweocha (Port Harcourt) and Enugu.
“All cases involving IPOB family
members are being frustrated by the office of the Attorney General of the
Federation (AGF). This has made the Nigerian judiciary and their judges willing
accomplices to the APC regime of detention without trial, for those holding
alternative views to the government.
“Court orders are flagrantly
being disobeyed by the same government that appointed the judges delivering
these rulings. The case of Bright Chimezie Ishinwa is particularly distressing
given that a Federal High Court in Uyo ordered his immediate release, but till
today DSS is still holding him and have refused to comply with the court order.
“The case came up again for
hearing on November 2, 2017 in Uyo, unsurprisingly and in total disregard for
the rule of law, DSS refused to attend the court and also refused to release
Bright Chimezie Ishinwa who is languishing without trial at DSS underground
detention facility in Abuja.
“The world must tell IPOB where
we must go to obtain justice given the failure of the courts to defend the
common man.. Nigerian government it seems has been given the judicial license
to pick up and detain anybody at will indefinitely at the pleasure of Buhari
and his henchmen. This is not democracy, this is not the rule of law, it is the
worst form of tyranny.
“By persistently ignoring court
orders and rulings of judges, the Buhari administration is inviting anarchy and
chaos upon itself. How can a government charge somebody to their own court and
when that court, having examined the case, determines that an accused person is
innocent, the Buhari regime will still hold on to that person in detention in a
supposed democracy.
“What other options are there to
seek redress a tyrannical government such as this if not through a campaign of
sustained civil disobedience?
“The government of Muhammadu
Buhari quickly labelled IPOB a terrorist organisation without due process of
law. Now we have challenged them to prove in an open court how IPOB is a terror
group, the AGF have decided not to come to court to prove his case.
“This ugly illegal pattern of
total disregard for due process of law is repeated in every case involving
IPOB. Buhari’s regime keeps talking about peace and security but are themselves
the largest contributors to the instability in Nigeria today.
“We wish to reiterate to the
hearing of the civilised world that IPOB is and remains the most peaceful
freedom fighting organisation anywhere in the world today. We are still
wondering why the National Judicial Commission (NJC) would be docile to the
point of allowing the legal process in Nigeria to be trampled upon by this
Buhari regime.
‘Those who claim to be
professionals in the legal field, including the countless Senior Advocates
(SAN) that regularly appear on television programs, should understand that
their seeming cowardice in the face of this APC tyranny does not speak well of
them or their profession.
“We are therefore calling on the
international community, human rights groups, well meaning individuals and
societies including men and women of goodwill across the globe to question this
Nigerian government and her judiciary why we have this incessant postponement
and adjournment of IPOB cases.
“We are challenging the Nigeria
government of Major General Muhammadu Buhari, especially the AGF to come up
with their evidence against IPOB and it’s leadership, instead running around
deceiving the public with false and fabricated stories.”
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