A United States?based Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa, has called for the immediate release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, insisting that his continued detention violates both Nigerian and international law.

Fr. Odimmegwa, who serves as the Coordinator of Rising Sun, a US-based nonprofit organization, made the call in a statement issued on Sunday, condemning what he described as a ?shameful abuse of justice? surrounding Kanu?s prolonged incarceration.

?We, the people, are saying it loud and clear: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu should not be in detention for one more day,? he declared.

?He was abducted, not extradited. The law is clear ? when a man is taken illegally from another country, no court in Nigeria has any right to try him.?

Kanu has been in detention since June 2021 after he was forcibly returned to Nigeria from Kenya under controversial circumstances. The Federal Government has accused him of treasonable felony, terrorism, and incitement, alleging that his broadcasts triggered violence and attacks on security formations in the South-East.

Kanu and his legal team maintain that he is a victim of unlawful rendition and that his arrest and trial breach international conventions and Nigeria?s territorial sovereignty obligations.

In October 2022, the Court of Appeal in Abuja discharged and acquitted him, ruling that his extraordinary rendition was illegal and stripped the Federal High Court of jurisdiction to continue his trial. The Supreme Court, however, stayed the execution of that judgment in December 2023, allowing the government to re-file charges ? a move widely criticised by rights groups and observers.

Recent weeks have witnessed peaceful protests in Abuja, Enugu, and Owerri demanding Kanu?s release and compliance with the appellate court judgment. At one of the protests in October, Kanu?s younger brother, Emmanuel, described his continued detention as ?an affront to justice and humanity.?

?It?s about justice,? he said. ?Nigerians from all walks of life came out because they know that if injustice can happen to one man, it can happen to anyone.?

Demonstrators carried placards reading: ?Free Nnamdi Kanu Now,? ?Obey Court Orders,? and ?Justice for One, Justice for All.?

Rights organisations including Amnesty International and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) have repeatedly urged the Federal Government to comply with court rulings and release the IPOB leader unconditionally.

Fr. Odimmegwa argued that the charges against Kanu are fundamentally defective, noting that he was arraigned under a repealed legislation ? the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013.

?He was charged under a dead law. You cannot revive a repealed law to persecute someone,? he said. ?The Court of Appeal discharged him, yet the DSS keeps him locked up in total disregard for that ruling.?

The cleric maintained that Kanu?s 2021 rendition from Kenya amounted to ?criminal abduction? and a gross violation of international law, warning that Nigeria?s refusal to comply with judicial orders damages confidence in the justice system.

?According to the Appeal Court, no court in Nigeria can put MNK to trial because he was kidnapped from Kenya and brought forcefully to Nigeria. That amounts to gross violation of international law,? he stated.

He listed several alleged breaches in Kanu?s case, including lack of a valid charge, denial of fair hearing, and violation of the rule against double jeopardy, insisting that the government?s actions threaten civil liberties nationwide.

?No valid charge exists. Fair hearing denied. Double jeopardy breached. The Supreme Court failed its own doctrine. International law is on his side,? the statement read. ?Justice cannot survive where the law is ignored. Freedom cannot breathe when truth is buried.?

Fr. Odimmegwa stressed that the demand for Kanu?s release is rooted in justice, not sentiment.

?We are not asking for favours ? we are demanding justice under the law,? he said. ?If one man?s rights can be trampled, no one is safe. Justice for one is justice for all. A nation cannot claim to uphold democracy while it jails people in defiance of its own courts. The world is watching. Justice must prevail.? (Vanguard)

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