Igbo leaders meet Buhari, demand Kanu’s release, Signs petitions.

Igbo leaders under the aegis of Highly Respected Igbo Greats have appealed to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to ensure the release of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The group led by First Republic parliamentarian and former Minister of Aviation, 93-year-old Mbazulike Amaechi, made the appeal during a visit to the State House, Abuja, on Friday.

Other members of the delegation were former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Bishop Sunday Onuoha of the Methodist Church, former President of Igbo socio-cultural group, Aka Ikenga, Goddy Uwazurike and Tagbo Amaechi.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Buhari while responding to the Igbo leaders, stated that though the demand was heavy, he would consider it.

Buhari said unconditional release of the IPOB leader, who is currently standing trial, runs contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers between the executive and judiciary.

The President said, “You’ve made an extremely difficult demand on me as the leader of this country. The implication of your request is very serious. In the last six years, since I became President, nobody would say I have confronted or interfered in the work of the judiciary.

“God has spared you (referring to the ex-minister), and given you a clear head at this age, with a very sharp memory. A lot of people half your age are confused already. But the demand you made is heavy. I will consider it.”

During the meeting, the nonagenarian described the situation in the South-East as “painful and pathetic,” lamenting businesses had collapsed while education was crumbling amid fears.

He promised that if Kanu was released to him as the only First Republic minister still alive, “he (Kanu) would no longer say the things he had been saying.”

Meanwhile IPOB has sought the intervention of the United Kingdom, urging the British Government to embark on an “aggressive diplomatic engagement” to ensure Kanu was released unconditionally. ‘‘in the shortest possible time.’’

It also alleged that over 300 IPOB members were being held across detention camps nationwide.

The lead lawyer to IPOB, Chief Ifeanyi Ejiofor, stated these in a letter to the British High Commissioner in Nigeria dated November 17 

The petition read in part, “The British Government is respectfully urged to do everything to protect the life of its national, our client, who, from every indication, is gripped by the vice-like, vengeful, and unrelenting stranglehold of the present Federal Government of Nigeria. Britain cannot afford to shirk the obligation it owes our client.

Similarly, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has condemned the condition Kanu was allegedly subjected to at the detention facility of the Department of the State Services.

The spokesman for Ohanaeze, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, who spoke to our correspondent in Enugu, noted, “Ohanaeze advises that Nnamdi Kanu should be handled with care and whatever is happening should fit into the global best practices; trial of Nnamdi Kanu, condition he stays should be made open.”

This is just as the Abia State High Court sitting in Umuahia issued an order restraining security agencies from deploying their personnel to the court premises each time Kanu’s case is being heard.

The court, presided over by Justice Benson Anya, also restrained them from arresting anybody who attends the court to witness Kanu’s proceedings.

The order was prompted by over 100 security agents who cordoned off the premises of the Abia State High Court in Umuahia at the resumed hearing of Kanu’s human rights suit against the Federal Government and seven others filed by his special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor.

The suit is aimed at challenging Kanu’s abduction in Kenya and his extraordinary rendition to Nigeria.

The matter was adjourned to December 10, 2021 for adoption of processes and a hearing on the substantive application seeking Kanu’s release from detention and his repatriation to Britain.

Meanwhile, IPOB has alleged a plot by the Federal Government to kill Kanu in detention and declare a state of emergency in ‘Biafraland.’

#EndSARS report: US seeks justice for victims

The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has said America is keenly waiting for the federal and Lagos State governments to take action on the report of the judicial panel of inquiry, which probed the alleged killing of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers and policemen on the night of October 20, 2020 at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos.

The eight-man panel, led by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, had submitted a 309-page report on Monday, indicting soldiers and police and affirming that security agents killed peaceful protesters.

Affirming the widespread description of the Lekki toll gate incident as a massacre, the panel, in its report, declared at least nine persons were killed by security agents at the toll gate.

The panel report listed 48 names as casualties of the Lekki incident out of which 22 protesters sustained gunshot injuries, while 15 others were assaulted by soldiers and police.

It listed the names of the deceased as Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh and Nathaniel Solomon.

The report also listed Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola and Wisdom as “presumed dead.”

 The panel said, “The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags, while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context.”

During a meeting with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Thursday in Aso Rock, Abuja, the US Secretary of State, Blinken, had said America “anticipate and look to the state and the Federal Government’s response to the findings, and expect those to include steps that ensure accountability and address the grievances of the victims and their families.”

On Friday, the US Secretary of State met with members of the civil society in Abuja, reiterating that the US’s demand for justice.

Blinken told the CSOs: “We saw the conclusion this week of the independent Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s work and the transmission of its final report. And this is clearly an important step toward accountability for the killings and other abuses alleged to have been committed by security forces during the EndSARS protests, a year ago.

“So, we’re very much looking forward to the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government and other state governments taking measures to address the alleged abuses, as well as the grievances of victims and their families.

“Reports are critical, but what counts as much and even more is whether there’s action that follows those reports.”

75,000 Nigerians sign ICC petition, demand Buhari’s prosecution

Meanwhile, a petition by Reno Omokri, a former Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan, on the change.org platform received 76,420 signatures on Friday.

The petition, which was filed on Wednesday, was directed at the International Criminal Court and comes after the Lagos #EndSARS panel indicted the Buhari administration in its report.

At over 75,471 signatures, the petition is the first of Nigerian origin to hit that number in two days.

The petition is titled, ‘A Petition to The International Criminal Court to Arraign Muhammadu Buhari for Crimes Against Humanity’.

The petition sought to have Buhari tried and imprisoned by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity believed to have happened at Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.

Omokri wrote in the petition: “Following the murders of these protesters, the Buhari administration denied that the incident ever occurred. They threatened those, like myself, who insisted, with proof, that this massacre happened. The government even threatened to jail people who called for those behind the murders to be brought to book.”