Why Nigerian Government Must Free And Apologise To Kanu

Why Nigerian Government Must Free And Apologise To Kanu
President Muhammadu Buhari and Nnamdi Kanu
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In the last days of the President Muhammadu Buhari maladministration, it has opened its window of apologies and has been dishing them out almost daily. What continues to be perplexing is why the outgoing nepotistic and brutal government has chosen to be unrepentant in its evil ways by being selective with its apologies. Indeed, if there is anyone that deserves this apology as much as the millions of Nigerians whose lives Buhari deliberately destroyed, it should be the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu whom the Buhari junta violated in so many ways without any form of remorse. 

A few days ago, out of the blues, the stone-hearted President Buhari left Nigerians in shock when he apologised to them, asking those hurt by his actions or clueless policies to find a place in their hearts to pardon and forgive him. As if that was not enough, Buhari went on to posit that Nigerians ought to forgive him because ‘we are all humans’, and a sane mind might want to ask, ‘does Buhari actually understand what humanity means?’

The President in a speech was quoted as saying; ‘Having been a Governor, Minister, and President twice, I think God has given us an incredible opportunity to serve as your president. And I thank God for that. So, please whoever feels I have done wrong, we are all humans.

‘There is no doubt I hurt some people and I wish you will pardon me. And those that think that I have hurt them so much, please pardon me.’

What was mind-numbing and confusing at the same time is that President Buhari does understand that his actions, docility, and recklessness hurt so many people. However, why he chose to apologise when he is yet to repent from them is utterly confusing. Is Nnamdi Kanu not one of the people Buhari vehemently wronged? Why then is he still in the dungeon of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Buhari is conveniently apologising to those he might have wronged? Does it mean Buhari doesn’t remember that ‘we are all humans’ when it gets to Kanu or is he suffering from selective amnesia? The answers to these questions will only uncover layers of barefaced hypocrisy which Buhari displayed without caution.

Perhaps, what Buhari and his government chose to forget is that it was his policy of marginalisation, extrajudicial killings, inhumane detentions, torture, extraordinary renditions, and injustice that motivated Kanu’s drive towards self-determination and leading a secessionist movement and rather than respond with tact and remorse, he doubled it up by perpetrating more injustice on Kanu himself by having him unlawfully detained in the custody of the DSS.

If there was any iota of repentance in him or there was any sign that his apology was in any way remorsefully genuine, he would have ‘acted’ the apology by ensuring that Nnamdi Kanu and everyone who was incarcerated by his government on the account of their stance on self-determination is unconditionally released with immediate effect.

Read Also: Rendition: You Can’t Try Kanu In Nigeria, IPOB Challenges FG

On Buhari’s orders, Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was kidnapped by the Nigerian agents in Kenya in June 2021. His unlawful kidnap in the East African country happened almost bizarrely In a manner reminiscent of the careless abduction attempt by President Buhari and his agents concerning Nigeria’s Minister of Transport in the Second Republic, Alhaji Umaru Dikko from the United Kingdom in 1984, Kanu was targeted and kidnapped. However, unlike Dikko, Kanu’s forcible rendition was successful.

According to Kanu’s lawyers, on the 8th day of his abduction, Kanu’s abductors brought him out of the private facility, bundled, blindfolded, in a waiting vehicle, and drove him straight to the tarmac of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from where he was flown down to Nigeria in a waiting private jet. How they managed to clandestinely evade and circumvent Kenyan immigration authorities remains a bitter story of how power is abused in Africa but what was important is that they consequently smuggled him into Nigeria. Against the tenets of the law and international treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory, Kanu was never subjected to any extradition hearing or proceedings, before he was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria throughout his illegal horrific detention in Kenya.

Nnamdi Kanu
Nnamdi Kanu

Since Kanu was renditioned to Nigeria, he has been in the dungeon of the DSS where he is given to worst treatment anyone can imagine. Sometime in mid-October last year, he was discharged and acquitted by the court of appeal. In its unanimous judgment, a three-man panel of judges of the Appeal Court had quashed the remaining seven-count charges against Kanu by the federal government of Nigeria and consequently discharged him. While many were celebrating the ruling, the Buhari disastrous led-government chose to disobey that order blatantly without any tenable reason.

The court in its ruling held that Kanu was ‘extraordinarily’ renditioned to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the extradition treaty and conventions entered into by Nigeria, they also ruled that the move was a breach of his fundamental human rights. Despite such an unambiguous ruling, Kanu is yet to be released almost one year after!

Again, Buhari and his illiterate and sycophantic Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami ignored the fact that by choosing not to release Kanu against the judgment of the court, the federal government again, violated his rights to personal liberty as stipulated under section 35 of its constitution. There is nothing in the constitution that allows Buhari to pursue a stay of execution on a ruling that bordered on Kanu’s liberty and freedom.

In his unwholesome apology, Buhari perhaps forgot to mention that no civilian government in Nigeria’s history has shown the level of disdain for the rule of law as he did over the last eight years. With the cabal-controlled government of President Buhari in Aso Rock, respect for human rights was nothing but a ruse that was as worthless as the paper they were printed on. Why then was it convenient for him to forget to apologise for the shame he caused Nigeria through those despicable actions?

Sometime in July 2022, a  Working Group of the United Nations, after it deliberated on his matter, made a strong case for the unconditional release of Kanu. Sadly, the Buhari-led Nigerian ignoramus government neither responded to the call nor made any efforts to release Kanu. Despite several appeals to the government from within and outside the continent, Kanu has remained in solitary confinement by Nigeria’s secret and ignorance loving police.

It is heart-wrenching that not even Kanu’s ill and deteriorating health condition could get Buhari to soft-pedal and consider releasing him. The DSS has continued to ignore his medical condition while watching him die slowly in their custody. To make matters worse, their so-called appeal at the apex court has been handed to a judge who has no interest in delivering justice in the matter hence in Buhari’s books, Kanu is as good as forgotten!

For how long will Kanu continue to be denied access to his doctors? For how long will he continue to be denied the regular supply of his medications? Does Buhari and the DSS want him dead? If Buhari had any iota of integrity, he wouldn’t be violating the rights of a citizen while disobeying court orders in the manner in which he has done with Kanu.

Just before he strolls his way out of Aso Rock, Buhari must be reminded that Kanu’s only offense is that he chose to advocate for the freedom of all oppressed Nigerians while making a case for a referendum on the Biafran issue. He should be reminded that the right to free speech, including political advocacy, is a cornerstone of all democracies and can never be subverted for any reason as he has done.

In conclusion, while Buhari continues to issue his numerous hypocritical apologies, Nigerians must remind him and his goons that the appeal court, a court of competent jurisdiction, actually absolved Kanu of any wrongdoing and discharged him. Yet they chose to disobey the order and insist on holding onto him. They must be reminded to immediately release him unconditionally and offer their apologies to him in person. Perhaps, their worthless apologies might begin to have some meaning.

Africa Digital News, New York

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