Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, on Monday, accused the Supreme Court of using adjournment to subvert Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case.
IPoB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said: “We, the global family and movement of IPoB, ably led by the great and indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, condemns the continuous adjournment of our leader’s case by the Supreme Court in their efforts for our leader to remain in the Department of State Service, DSS, solitary confinement in Abuja.
“It is with greatest disappointment and bewilderment that we received from our leader’s lead counsel Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the shocking news of the cancellation of the date earlier scheduled by Supreme Court for the hearing of our leader’s appeal before the Supreme Court.
“The afterthought and flimsy reason being that September 14, 2023, earlier scheduled for the hearing of the case has caught up with the Supreme Court’s annual vacation, to say the least, is the worst form of travesty of justice and violent destruction of the rule of law at its epic.
“If we may ask, was it not in an open court that the Justices of the Supreme Court that sat on the appeal May 11, 2023, that adjourned the matter to September 14, 2023?
“It is also our understanding that the September 14, 2023, adjournment was not granted as a matter of course, the adjournment date was carefully considered to suit the Federal Government of Nigeria deliberate ploy to thwart the proceedings of that day by applying for time to file their papers even when they were clearly out of time, and the appeal was consequently, adjourned to September 14, 2023, for definite hearing.
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“If the current intention of the apex court is not a rape of democracy and clear subversion of the course of justice, how could they have adjourned to September 14, 2023, without being guided by their diary, which contains the entire schedule of activities and holidays of the Supreme Court for the entire year?
“May we, therefore, invite the Supreme Court to note as follows: To start with, the world and indeed the members of the public are to note that the “Stay of Execution” in a criminal trial is both criminal and unconstitutional.
“It is tantamount to the destruction of the tenets of criminal law jurisprudence because it is not supported by any judicial authority or extant laws or criminal practice direction of the Court of Appeal.
“What the Federal Government of Nigeria did was to procure a panel of judicial officers in the Court of Appeal to sit on an unprecedented appeal against the decision of the same Court, and the criminal venture was perfected and carefully executed.
“Hence, our leader is today, still being illegally and unconstitutionally confined to solitary confinement at the DSS dungeon in Abuja due to the illegal order of the judicial putschists.
“Contrary to the widespread misinformation, our leader is being detained without a charge pending against him in any court of law, which is against the law and constitution of Nigeria.
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“By the authority of the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on October 13, 2022, the seven-count charge that was pending against our leader before he approached the intermediate court was buried in its entirety, having been discharged and effectively forbidden from being prosecuted again in any court in Nigeria on any indictment or offence of any nature.
“The style of successive adjournment basically at the instance of the Federal Government of Nigeria is to justify the illegal detention of our leader, which is clearly an abuse of judicial process.
“Our leader has been in detention for one year since he was discharged by the Court of Appeal, yet, the government that appealed the decision discharging our leader is not interested in prosecuting the matter because they are aware that they will still lose at the Supreme Court.
“It is highly unfortunate that an apex court operating within the ambit of constitutional democracy will support the emasculation of their own laws, just to spite one man and what he represents.
“The cancellation of this date on the frivolous ground that the scheduled date is caught up with the apex court annual vacation is against the Supreme Court’s own rules governing criminal trials that are subject to accelerated hearing.
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“It is to be observed that the unfolding events goes to demonstrate that the Supreme Court of Nigeria is not abiding with their own rules by constantly adjourning the case of our leader.
“We, therefore, call on responsible foreign governments, institutions, and international community to immediately prevail on the Supreme Court of Nigeria to hear our leader’s appeal, so that this case will be promptly determined.
“How can anybody justify in law and fact, that an innocent man who was discharged and acquitted by the Nigerian Court of Appeal since October 13, 2022, and freed of any wrongdoing is still being held in solitary confinement without any order of court or law backing up the illegal and unconstitutional violation of his rights?
“It is, indeed, a grave subversion of the course of justice by the highest court in the land, in their clandestine connivance with the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“If the Federal Government of Nigeria is no longer interested in prosecuting their appeal, our leader should be immediately released in line with the order of the penultimate court made on October 13, 2022,” the statement added.
