Blessing Amarachi Azoribe, PBA Journalism Mentee
United States lawmaker, Jarvis Johnson, has demanded immediate release of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Johnson who is representing District 139 in the Texas House of Representatives, equally called on the US government to intervene in the matter and stop further violation of Kanu’s fundamental rights.
The demand was contained in a statement titled “Representative Johnson speaks out against oppression within the Nigerian Government and the freedom of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu” signed by the lawmaker.
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) since June 27, 2021, after been brought back from Kenya to face terrorism charges.
A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal had in October ruled that Kanu’s rendition from Kenya was illegal. The court also discharged and acquitted him.
Johnson recalled that in June 2022, a United Nations Working Group, after its deliberation on the matter, called for unconditional release of the IPOB leader, but “The Nigeria Government has not complied.”
The lawmaker accused the Nigerian government of refusing to obey the orders of the courts to release Kanu, whom he described as a “foremost freedom fighter.”
Part of the statement reads: “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is the foremost Freedom Fighter for the rights of oppressed people in Nigeria. For over 19 months, after he was kidnapped in Kenya, tortured, and illegally taken to Nigeria, he has been in solitary confinement. In July 2022, a United Nations Working Group, after its deliberations on his matter, called for his unconditional release. The Nigerian Government has not complied. In October 22, several Nigerian trial and appeals courts, acquitted and discharged him of all the bogus charges levied against him by the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government has refused to obey the orders of its own courts, and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains in solitary confinement enforced by its Secret Police.
“Kanu’s health conditions have been ignored by Nigeria’s Secret Police. He has been denied access to his doctors and to the regular supply of his medications. His health has increasingly deteriorated, and it is now feared that he may die in solitary confinement.
“Kanu’s only offence is that he is the leading advocate for the freedom of all oppressed Nigerians, and for a referendum on the Biafran issue. The right of free speech including political advocacy is a cornerstone of all democracies,” Johnson stated.
He said that going by the tenets of democracy which is being threatened globally, it is imperative that all should join hands to protect Kanu’s right of freedom of speech.
“The illegal kidnapping, torture, and solitary confinement of Kanu offends our democratic norms. So does the willful disobedience of the judgments of its own courts by the Nigerian government.
“I am demanding the immediate release of Kanu. The government of Nigeria needs to comply with the UN Mandate and the Orders of its own Courts. The Nigerian government is carrying out another form of genocide, one citizen at a time. I am calling on the American government to get involved to stop this genocide. We have protected other countries around this world to help vulnerable populations; we need to do the same for Nigeria and its Biafran citizens,” the US lawmaker further stated.
