Chidi Samuel || The proscribed separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Thursday asked the federal government to set free its members in various detention facilities across Nigeria for failure to prosecute the matters instituted against them.
The group in a press statement signed by Emma Powerful, its media and publicity secretary , said the missing case file of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu at the Appeal Court and the lackadaisical attitude of the federal government towards all court matters in the country involving IPOB was enough indication that the government was unwilling to pursue the matters.
The statement read, “With ongoing moves by Nigerian Government to frustrate, through frivolous applications and adjournments, all pending cases involving IPOB in various courts within and outside Nigeria, we the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) think that the time has come for this Buhari regime to release those held illegally in detention centres and prison all across the country.
“It is unheard of in the history of the world that a government is seen to be running from their own courts and afraid of legal processes they themselves instituted against a group they labeled a terrorist organisation.
“Normally a terrorist group or unlawful society would not want to undergo public legal scrutiny but in the case of IPOB we have offered and have taken this Buhari regime to court to prove that we are a peaceful organisation pursuing our inalienable right to self-determination.
“This Buhari administration is yet to convince the world in an open court of law which part of IPOB right to self-determination as presently exercised, is in breach of any known law of the land. It is the Buhari regime that is behaving like terrorists by failing to appear and doing everything they can to frustrate and delay ongoing cases so they won’t be cross-examined under oath in an open court,” he said.
According to the group, till date, the Nigerian government had consistently failed to produce a single witness to testify on their behalf or corroborate their wild accusations against its members.
The statement continued, “Instead each court appearance has been turned into a drama session by the prosecution who will either pressure Justice Binta Nyako to adjourn on a flimsy excuse or they simply amend the charge so the case will start afresh.
“Perversely, this abuse of court process has been sanctioned by the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) because of their failure to provide adequate protection for their judges handling IPOB cases, from the intimidation of DSS and other government agencies”.