AGAIN, ANAMBRA LAWYERS ATTACK THE IPOB, WRITE THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION ON ANAMBRA ELECTION
14th
August, 2017
THE HONOURABLE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION,
MR. ABUBAKAR MALAMI, SAN
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF JUSTICE,
MAITAMA, ABUJA.
DEAR SIR,
ANAMBRA
2017 ELECTION AND BIAFRA AGITATIONS: THE NEED FOR YOUR OFFICE TO ROBUSTLY RISE
IN DEFENCE OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY AND HALT THE IMPUNITY OF CHARLATANS
The above subject-matter refers.
We bring you warm
greetings in the name [and from the constituency] of Anambra State Lawyers in
Defence of Democracy [ASLADD] and from the constituency of all lovers of
democracy, advocates of constitutionalism and apostles of Rule of Law.
BACKGROUND
FACTS:
Our Dear Anambra State
is now due for another governorship election. The electoral umpire, the
Independent National Electoral Commission [henceforth in this letter called the
INEC], has slated the date of the epic contest to be 18th November,
2017. The atmosphere is gradually heating up. This is understandable. Now, we
have the Indigenous People of Biafra [henceforth in this letter called the
IPOB]. They [the IPOB] are now concededly a factor in the political epic battle
coming up. This is so, not because the IPOB is a registered political party
under the Nigerian laws. The IPOB is not even registered with the Corporate
Affairs Commission in Nigeria and therefore enjoys no legal entity in the
Nigerian nation. However, the IPOB activities and the consequences flowing
therefrom now transcend both political/geographical boundaries. The Leader of
the IPOB, Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, has taken a decision and consequently issued a
directive to the effect that elections would no longer hold in Biafraland.
THE
SOUL OF THIS LETTER:
The seat of this letter
is furnished by the vehement opposition to the holding of the said election by
one Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the self-acclaimed Leader of the Indigenous People of
Biafra [henceforth in this letter called the IPOB] who is currently standing
criminal trial bordering on treason before the Federal High Court, Abuja in
charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015. It is the position of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu that the
said governorship election would not hold in Anambra State and that he and his
followers are determined to boycott the elections. In so doing, it is their
belief that Biafra as a country will speedily be realized.
THE
CRUX OF OUR CASE:
Sir, there is no
denying the fact that the exercise of the right to vote is tied to the
discretion of each citizen. In other words, a citizen is at liberty to abstain
from voting [for whatever good or bad reason] even though it is a civic duty
recognized by the constitution. The IPOB have taken a position that they would
“boycott” the forthcoming Anambra 2017 elections. We do not have any problem
with them on this position. However, our challenge with IPOB is their seeming
inability to appreciate the meaning of the word “boycott” as it relates to
Anambra election. We are worried that their mode of propagating their “No
referendum, no election” mantra suggests that the word “boycott” has another
meaning assigned to it in their own dictionary which is “disruption” of all
legitimate activities of government and electioneering activities calculated at
striking terror in the minds of the citizens who have made up their mind to
discharge their civic duty on the 18th day of November, 2017. We now
proceed with aplomb to demonstrably instantiate this point.
Sir, the Nnmadi Kanu
led IPOB are always quick to raise the green banner of “non-violence” and take
refuge under its canopied ambience whereas their official dissemination
channel, Radio Biafra, is a flowing
river of hate-speeches, incitement to violence and war. ASLADD commend to you
the video of Nnamdi Kanu in the United States asking Igbo residing there for
money to buy arms to fight other Nigerians. Hate speech leads to war and war
leads to deaths and, therefore, IPOB preaches violence. In the South-East
[especially in Onitsha which is our commercial nerve center], the IPOB
miscreants extort money from traders after intimidating them. IPOB hoodlums
illegally mount roadblocks to force other citizens to buy their Biafra flags
and insignia not minding whether such citizens subscribe to their separatist
ideology or whether such citizens have the money to pay for the said flags. They
harass citizens and threaten them with violence. They intimidate them to close
their shops. IPOB street urchins have on two remarkable occasions disrupted
campaigns rallies and have most infamously invaded and desecrated St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church, Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Govrenment Area of Anambra State
where the Governor was to worship [with their chants of no referendum, no
election]. Indeed, they have a rich history of mischief. This is potentially
dangerous. IPOB is exposing the Igbo to another war and this is unacceptable.
Their sing song “non-violence” is therefore a blatant lie, a ruse, a decoy and a
smokescreen to mislead the unwary. It is interesting to note that the IPOB is
just one out of many Biafran separatist groups. Instructively, these complaints
of acts of outlawry cannot be laid against those other groups.
As the Chief Law
Officer of the country and the number one defender of our constitution and rule
of law, you will agree with us that all these acts complained of [in their
aggregate] rudely strike at the root of democracy and constitute a grave threat
to the operation of the Nigerian Constitution in the Eastern part of Nigeria
especially in Anambra State in view of the governorship election holding later
in November. This has now crystallized to a weighty responsibility on your
shoulders more so when these acts complained of mostly draw their inspiration
from the activities of Nnamdi Kanu who has literally rumpled all the conditions
to which his bail was tied and is now reveling in contempt of the Federal High
Court with unprecedented and scandalous impunity. Speaking from the Bar, we are
convinced that the security reports [on IPOB activities] from the security
agencies in Anambra State [Onitsha in particular] cannot contradict these
complaints we have tabled before you unless the commanders have not been alive
to their responsibilities. This ugly and fast-degenerating state of affairs
was/is the reason why we wrote a similar open letter to the State Governor last
week titled “The 2017 Anambra State governorship election and the imperative
of ending the impunity of anarchists before it is too late”. These
nefarious activities carefully tabulated herein will in no time mark the
beginning of the collapse of the economy of our Dear State and indeed the
South-East in general if left unchecked. This would be one calamity too many.
We cannot afford it especially in the light of the fact that the South-East is
already disadvantaged in so many indices of good governance.
SUMMATION:
In signing off this urgent
letter, we wish to draw your kind attention to the rising wave of violent
crimes in Anambra State, the kind that has never been witnessed in our entire
history as a nation. While we are still reeling in shock resulting from the
blood-chilling and mind-boggling butchery of our compatriots on the 6th
August, 2017 at Saint Philip’s Catholic Church, Amakwa Ozobulu, yesterday [13th
August, 2017], we were again thrown into mourning by the attack on yet another
church, this time in Onitsha. This litany of heart-wrenching calamities is
alien to us as a people. It is against this background that we now urge you to
deploy all the instruments and powers of the Nigerian State available to you to
reign in the excesses of purveyors of hate-speeches, terminate the pastime of
anarchists among us and promptly commence a high-powered clinical investigation
into the activities of the IPOB [as tabled above]. Agitation for
self-determination bears no resemblance with anarchy, criminality and outlawry.
Our country Nigeria is a
nation whose democracy is founded on laws. Our nation is not on auto-pilot.
Nigeria is neither a ghetto [where charlatans call the shots] nor a banana
republic [where outlaws dictate the tone of public discourse]. True indeed,
Nigeria is not an asylum where lunatics and fringe elements preside. The
time to axe this sore thumb is now so that it does not get gangrenous. We must
now begin to separate apples from oranges. Your highly esteemed office must now
set forth at dawn so that the journey would be made before dusk. We crave your
kind indulgence to share the content of this letter with the media, the
International Community and Human Rights Communities world over.
Please Sir, do kindly
accept the firm assurances of our highest esteem.
Yours in defence of democracy,
JOHNMARY CHUKWUKASI
JIDEOBI, Esq.
Convener of ASLADD
Cc:
United Nations Mission
in Nigeria
Ambassador of the
United States to Nigeria
The British High
Commissioner to Nigeria
The European Union
Mission to Nigeria
National Human Rights
Commission
The Inspector-General
of Police
The Defence
Headquarters
The Director-General,
State Security Service
The Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria
The Federal House of
Representatives
South-East Governors
Forum
Anambra Council of
Traditional Rulers
AGAIN, ANAMBRA LAWYERS ATTACK THE IPOB, WRITE THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION ON ANAMBRA ELECTION
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Monday, August 14, 2017
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