By JEFF ORJI
Looking at the level of meyhem, lives lost, economic instability, insecurity, religious intolerance etc that have been brought upon the Nigerian nation by the north in general, the Coalition of 52 Northern Groups (CNG) will be the last group that should make a comment on a matter that is so sensitive as the call by the United Nations (UN) for the unconditional release of the unlawfully detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu let alone reject such.
Further more, considering the un-told damage caused so far by the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists and headsmen, the coalition groups as big and numerous as they are ought to have intensified efforts in finding lasting solution to the prolonged activities of these band wagons of terrorists rather than seeking cheap popularity by accusing a global acclaimed UN of bias in its disposition towards certain regions of the country hence should immediately withdraw its demand for Kanu’s unconditional release from the lawful custody of the Nigerian authorities.
Come to think of it, how many times have the group and it’s spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, advised the federal government on the best strategy to curb the menace of boko haram or rally for the arrest and detention of the arrowheads cum sponsors of the terrorists? How come the advice to the Federal Government to rise to the occasion and defend the country by resisting and rejecting UN’s demand? How come the call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to maintain the sanctity, dignity and integrity of Nigeria and uphold and defend its sovereignty by resisting and rejecting such demands from any quarter when the group is aware that the federal government is not in control of some parts of the same northern quarters being held ransone by boko Haram? This really does not connect as it sounds satirical and seems to be the best comedy of the 21st century.
Is it not an irony for such group to shift the blame of distablization, threat to the peace and security, perpetrators of indiscriminate violence, wanton destruction and collective mayhem, habinger of another civil war and mass killings cum suffering of innocent people, discountenance of the effort of the Nigerian state to protect citizens from violence and to impose law and order, promotion of anarchy and campaigning for genocide of the entire sub-Saharan Africa to another section of the country. Looking at the statistics on ground especially at this momentous epoch that the so called giant of Africa has become a shadow of it’s self which region should be more culpable?
Be that as it may, I wish to implore the federal government of Nigeria under President Bihari to withdraw from acts that are capable of triggering nasty diplomatic conflicts with United Nations and other global acclaimed groups that have called for the release of IPOB leader. As a matter of fact, UN’s Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has indicted both Nigeria and Kenya Governments for the arrest and extraordinary rendition, torture and continued detention of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, without due process.
UN therefore, asked Nigerian Government for the, “immediate release of Kanu unconditionally” and pay him adequate compensations for the arbitrary violation of his fundamental human rights. It also recommended that Government officials responsible for the torture meted to the IPOB Leader be investigated and punished.
The UN body further directed Nigeria to report back within six months of the transmission of its opinions on Kanu’s matter, and steps taken to comply with all the recommendations thereof. It referred the case of Kanu’s torture to Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for further consideration.
The UN Working Group also threatened to take further action to ensure the recommendations are complied with, noting that both Nigeria and Kenya are signatories to the Convention and should comply. The 16-page report dated July 20, 2022 was adopted on April 4 by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its 93rd session, held between March 30 – April 8, 2022.
Special Counsel to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), MrAloy Ejimakor, has stated that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a quasi-judicial body that has a subsisting legal mandate of the United Nations to consider and adjudicate human rights petitions against member nations of the UN. He further informed that these grounds include, “the fact that the decision is based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both of which Nigeria ratified several decades ago.
“Ratification is a means by which a nation makes itself subject to international laws and treaties, adding that by the provisions of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution and a plethora of decisions by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, ratification makes Nigeria subject to whatever it ratified. The UN Working Group is an integral arm of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which has the broader UN mandate to determine human rights issues emanating from member nations of the UN and it goes without saying therefore that, as a member of the United Nations, Nigeria is subject to decisions emanating from these UN’s bodies” he concluded
