World enews: Stop Holding Press Conferences, Bring Evidence Against Kanu To Court —IPOB Lawyer Slams Buhari’s Minister, Malami

Aloy Ejimakor, a special counsel for the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has said the duty of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) is to ensure justice for Nigerians and foreigners in the country, and not to protect the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The IPOB leader’s lawyer also said Malami, being a legal practitioner should bring any evidence he has against Kanu to the court of law, instead of holding press conferences that are biased against the IPOB leader.

Ejimakor said this while speaking in an exclusive interview with BBC Pidgin at the weekend.

He further revealed that there was no Panel of Enquiry inaugurated after the #EndSARS protests that indicted Kanu or IPOB for causing violence, adding that the AGF’s allegations are prejudiced and without evidence.

Ejimakor disclosed that Kanu’s legal team was studying the contents of the press conference to decide if to take legal actions against Malami.

He said, “You have asked me about the press conference done by the Attorney-General on Friday. It’s quite surprising that a day after this hearing, the Attorney-General saw the occasion to address the conference. The Attorney-General should be reminded that despite his duality of role under the Nigerian constitution, he is the attorney-general of everybody.

“His job is not regime protection, his job is to uphold the law and see that justice is done to every Nigerian citizen and even foreigners who happen to find themselves in Nigeria. What he appears to be saying on Friday is akin to saying a witch cries at night and the baby dies in the morning, therefore the witch kills the baby.

“The real arguments of these allegations are without substance and he never presented any evidence. And we have this particular one concerning the EndSARS protest. We had commissions of enquiry across the country, particularly in Lagos, and they had one in Imo State as well that I personally know about. And there was nothing from any of these commissions of enquiry that returned an indictment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu or IPOB in the aftermath of the EndSARS protest.

“So, that accusation was made in bad faith and is intended to poison the mind of the public and also to prejudice the minds of the quarters. It is a highly prejudicial interview and we are studying the content to see if there is going to be legal reactions that will come from our side.

“If he has any evidence that our client was caught in any wrongdoing or criminality, he should know better than anybody else that the platform to present such evidence is the court of law. Not calling press conferences.”

The Nigerian Government had accused Kanu of being responsible for the murder of Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dora Akunyili.

Dora Akunyili was also the information minister during the tenure of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The claim was made by a committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate Kanu, who is standing trial for terrorism-related Offences.
The committee is headed by Malami, who announced the alleged atrocities at a press conference last Friday.

The 24 members of the committee were drawn from the Federal Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Federal Ministry of Information (MoI), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili’s was shot dead by unknown gunmen in September 2021.

The government also accused Kanu of being responsible for the murder of a former Presidential Aide, Ahmad Gulak, and over 177 other cases in the South-East.

The committee said IPOB and its military wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), followed Kanu’s directives and carried out massive attacks on democratic institutions, especially facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), intending to hamper the democratic process in Nigeria.

According to the report, the attacks that were carried out between October 2020 and June 2021 led to the killing of 175 security personnel.

The report read in part, “Acting on the instigating directives of Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB members and #EndSARS protesters attacked and killed many security agents, destroyed several public and private properties, including police stations, public transport buses and other facilities across the country.

“That on October 21, 2020, Nnamdi Kanu through an online call-in radio programme (Radio Biafra), further instigated IPOB members to burn down all police stations and kill government security forces, which was carried out, and security personnel (especially police officers) were killed and public and private properties destroyed.

“That 175 security personnel were killed by IPOB/ESN, comprising 128 policemen, 37 military personnel and 10 other security operatives. Killing of prominent Nigerians: Recently there were gruesome killings of traditional leaders: Obi 1 of Okwudor autonomous community, Eze E. AnayochukwuDurueburuo and Eze Sampson Osunwa of Ihebineowerre autonomous community as well as the killings of Dr. Chike Akunyili and eight others as well as the killing of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak on May 30, 2021.”

The committee alleged that Nnamdi Kanu’s broadcasts led to 19 attacks on INEC facilities that resulted in the destruction of offices as well as burning of 18 INEC logistical vehicles, several election materials, equipment and ICT gadgets in Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states.

The Presidential committee stated that 164 police stations and formations, including police Headquarters, Owerri, Imo State were attacked by IPOB/ESN leading to the death of 128 policemen while 144 were injured and 628 vehicles were destroyed.

It said 396 firearms and 17,738 ammunition were carted away during the IPOB/ESN attacks.