Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on  Sunday, said President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration must release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu forthwith, and stop “long term destruction of the South-East” geopolitical zone which his indefinite detention in an alleged underground dungeon of the secret police has created. 

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the “abduction” and perennial detention of Kanu since he was brought back to Nigeria in June 2021 were illegal and inconsistent with international human rights practices. HURIWA dismissed the errorneous verdict of Justice Binta Nyako justifying abduction and illegal rendition which offends international law and international human rights law. The Rights group said since Kenya denied any involvement in the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu in its jurisdiction,  his abduction remained irregular and illegal because if a judge sees White and tries to call it Black, it is in the self enlightened interests of the citizens to opposed an unjust verdict of a court. 

Onwubiko said, “Despite the extreme and heightened state of insecurity in the South-East, President Muhammadu Buhari has been nonchalant and unresponsive to popular and legal opinion on how to deflate worsening situation. “If we may  ask, what has become of the negotiations initiated by some WISE MEN FROM THE EAST including a 90 year old first Republic minister of Aviation of Igbo extraction who risked it all to fly into Abuja to plead with Buhari on behalf of Nnamdi Kanu? We don’t want to believe that although Muhammadu Buhari respects Fulani Emirs, he has no respect for Elders from the Igbo speaking South East of Nigeria so much so that he deceived them or so it seemed, to hope that Nnamdi Kanu will receive immediate reprieve only to realise that the President may have played a fast one on respected Elders and statesmen only because they are not Fulanis? 

“His nepotistic appointment of heads of internal security like Customs, Immigration, Police, Civil Defence and if course his persistent appointment of Muslims to head the Department of State Services and National Intelligence Agency is responsible for the scale of smuggling of sophisticated weapons into Nigeria from northern flanks of the country.

“On IPOB and the South East, criminal elements are using Nnamdi Kanu as a reason for upgrading their attacks of security assets and citizens of South-East and there is the need for the President to work out a political solution to the illegal detention of Kanu. HURIWA called on security forces to up their game and adopt law based Professional style to arrest the real perpetrators of violence in the South East and stop arresting Igbo youths arbitrarily.  

“HURIWA call for the (conditional or otherwise) release of Nnamdi Kanu because what he is being charged for is not anywhere near terrorism. Kanu has never being caught with guns nor has he ever killed anyone. His advocacy using Biafran radio can only at best be termed spreading defamation but not terrorism and defamation is civil not criminal. 

“Kanu must be released except President Muhammadu Buhari plans for a long term destruction of South East in anger over his allegation that Igbos did not vote for him or about the assassination of some Northern leaders in the 60’s which led to a counter coup and civil war in which Buhari played active combatant role on the side of the then Federal forces controlled by Northerners.”

In another development, HURIWA said the procurement of weapons is not the issue in fighting the nation’s security challenges but the willingness of the President and security chiefs to non-sentimentally destroy terrorist and bandit groups in their camps which they already know where they are located as said by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai recently.

The group was reacting to an announcement by the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (rtd), that the Federal Government is expecting the delivery of three new types of fighter aircraft to tackle insecurity in addition to the recent procurement of J-F17 Thunder multi-role aircraft and Super Tucano attack aircraft.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko noted, “The issue is that those who control and command the armed forces have compromised national security interests and have deployed public fund to obfuscate this fact and used propaganda to confuse the West to think that the Federal Government is battling terrorists.  it is not battling terrorists and is just pretending to be doing so.”

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