The jubilation that greeted the October 14, 2022, order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja to the Nigerian government to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, MNK, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is still fresh in my memory. Whatsapp statuses, Facebook posts, and Twitter tweets that celebrated the victory of MNK were overwhelming and heart-warming.
Interestingly, the court also discharged all the made-up charges bordering on terrorism and treason levelled against MNK and ruled that the forceful extradition of the freedom fighter from the East African country of Kenya to Nigeria for the continuation of his pending trial was illegal.
I could imagine the heavy sigh of relief MNK heaved as the decision of the three-man panel led by Justice Jummai Hanatu was being reeled out to the hearing of the court. “Freedom, at last!”, he might have gasped. To MNK, freedom meant changing the Fendi tracksuit which he had worn since his incarceration despite the court’s directive to the Department of State Services, DSS, to allow him to have a change of clothes. Freedom, to MNK, meant eating a good meal, and more than once a day. Freedom, to him, also meant access to quality medical care to regain his deteriorating health.
Of course, a lot of Nigerians shared in these sentiments and they looked forward to MNK’s release as compliance with the court’s order. Alas, five months later, he is still in custody. The President Muhammadu Buhari-led government objected to the Appeal Court ruling. The Buhari regime not only blatantly refused to release MNK but also instituted other charges against him.
MNK’s cat-and-mouse history with the Nigerian government could account for the reason he remains a prisoner. He was first arrested in October 2015. Curiously, this was the year Buhari came to power. I cannot help but wonder if locking MNK up was the top priority of President Buhari’s administration. Ostensibly, he figured that the freedom fighter, through Radio Biafra, the London-based radio station that serves as the voice of the Biafran crusade, would pose a huge threat to his government and decided to put him in solitary confinement to enjoy the legitimacy of his government deserves, especially from the South East region.
MNK spent 18 months in prison without trial before being released on bail in April 2017 on health grounds. But he fled the country five months later after the Nigerian army raided his home in Abia State, and killed several of his supporters. He was, however, re-arrested and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021 through the ‘collaborative efforts of Nigerian intelligence and security services’ to ‘continue facing his trial’, as the minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, Abubakar Malami explained.
Corroborating the ruling of the Abuja division of the Appeal Court, a Federal High Court in Umuahia, Abia state, on October 26, 2022, mandated the Nigerian government to return MNK to Kenya and to pay him N500 million as compensation for violating his fundamental human rights – another victory against the Buhari regime in his fight against his unlawful extradition.
But the Nigerian government has continued to hold MNK hostage for ‘national and public interest’, in what can be interpreted as contempt of the court. This is despite the clamour by prominent groups and individuals for the Buhari regime to adhere to the courts’ verdict and the willingness of Enyinnaya Abaribe, a senator representing Abia-South senatorial district, Orji Kalu, former Abia state governor, and Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra state to stand as surety for him if he is granted bail.
Two months to the end of President Buhari’s tenure, the fate of MNK remains unknown and undecided. The belief that his continued detention would be the end of the road for the struggle for Biafra’s independence turned out to be a delusion. IPOB did not allow the intimidation by the Nigerian government to stall the pursuit of the restoration of Biafra’s sovereignty. The now-proscribed group instituted a mandatory sit-at-home on Mondays to pressure the Buhari regime to release their leader, which has continued to be enforced till today, paralysing businesses and the economic sector of the South East. The measure, nonetheless, did not faze President Buhari.
Though the campaign for Biafra’s independence died during the build-up to the general election because of the emergence of Peter Obi, a former Anambra state governor, in the presidential race and the optimism that he stands a better chance of winning the election; given the unfavourable outcome of the February 25 presidential election, it remains to be seen whether the many who stood on the side of Igbo presidency in 2023 would pick up their verbal missiles and relaunch the struggle for Biafra’s autonomy.
Ezinwanne writes via ezinwanne.dominion@gmail.com.
