•Kanu jumped no bail, says counsel
•Ohanaeze advises govs on IPOB leader’s ordeal
The Chairman, Board of Directors of World Igbo Congress, Prof. Anthony Ejiofor, has authorised a worldwide protest on July 21, 2021, to tell the world about the insecurity and killings in Christian-dominated areas of Nigeria.
In a statement yesterday, WIC feared that the trend could escalate into ethno-religious conflicts of unmanageable proportions from Southern Kaduna to the South East region dominated by Christians.
He said: “Today, these Christians live under the specter of the shoot-on-sight order by the government of Nigeria when they agitate against the lopsided behaviour of the government.”
It will also use the rally to demand the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is agitating for fairness and equity in the country.
According to the Public Relations Officer, Basil Onwukwe, WIC will continue the pursuit of the referendum to determine those who still wants Nigeria as a country, because it is the inalienable right of indigenous people of the world to self-determination like recently happened in Britain (Brexit) and Scotland to determine our peaceful state of actualisation.
HOWEVER, the Special Counsel to the IPOB leader, Aloy Ejimakor, has restated that Kanu did not jump bail as being alleged.
Ejimakor said yesterday that the prevailing scenario in his home at Afara-Ukwu, Umuahia, Abia State, under which he escaped for his dear life and personal safety, would not amount to jumping bail.
He stated that the only logical way of determining whether he jumped bail or not was to recall the state of affairs before the military invasion of his homestead in September 2017.
“As of September 2017, Kanu was free on bail on a subsisting court order; his bail was not on personal recognisance, but on a bond posted by three sureties. He was neither judicially nor administratively ordered to be re-arrested for breaching his bail or on account of any new charges filed; and his next hearing date was set for the next month, October,” the counsel stated.
AS Kanu’s trial starts next week, the Chidi Ibeh-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo has appealed to South East governors to explore their harmonious relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari to secure a soft-landing for the IPOB leader.
In a statement in Abakaliki yesterday, the Secretary-General of the Ohanaeze faction, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, noted that such move would enhance the sustainability of peaceful atmosphere that just returned to the zone.
The statement read in part: “We can no longer afford to keep his supporters from hitting the streets immediately after his retrial starts. This is not the time for accusations and counter-accusations.
“Kanu’s previous ranting and insults on South East governors and Igbo elders were unbearable, but the best way to forgive him is to secure his release.
“We have implicit confidence that the continuous silence of the governors is golden, and as backstage activities and negotiations are going on quietly without much noise, what is required now is the release of Kanu through out-of-court settlement.”
