Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The lawyer to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has petitioned Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, over the continued detention of 36 members of IPOB at the Abakaliki Correctional Centre since four years without trial.
The Lawyer also petitioned the state Chief Judge, Justice Elvis Ngene, and the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Ben Odo, over the matter.
The 36 detainees were discharged by high courts in the state four times, but they have remained in detention since 2021 despite being discharged by the courts.
Their counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who described their continued detention as a mockery of the judicial process and an assault on democratic institutions, called for their immediate release.
He wondered why courts would make orders discharging citizens brought before them and those orders would not be obeyed.
He told reporters at the Ebonyi High Court premises on Wednesday that he had to take the bull by the horns and petition Governor Nwifuru over the matter.
“This case has a chequered history. Over time, we have narrated the targeting of the case, how far we have gone, and where we are today.
“So, they have been, on four successive occasions, discharged and acquitted by the high courts of Ebonyi State before we arrived at this last charge.
“However, during this intervening period, I wrote a strongly worded petition to the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State and copied the Chief Judge of Ebonyi State and the state Attorney General, requesting that the court orders be complied with.
“Compliance with the court orders entails the immediate and unconditional release of the inmates because what we are seeing being played out here is a mockery of the judicial process and an assault on democratic institutions.
“A situation where courts will make orders discharging citizens who were brought before them on frivolous charges on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th occasions, and they are still being kept in custody.
“So, we had to take the bull by the horns by formally writing to the Executive Governor of the state—let’s assume he was not aware of the development—and the Chief Judge of the state, because it is compelling that we do so,” he stated.
