President Buhari has compromised Nigerian judiciary

 

By Ama Chukwugoziem (Abia writers)

Edited and published by Joseph Afokwalam 

According to Longman dictionary, compromise (2) is to put into a dishonourable position; bring shame to. While compromising is dishonourable, making one feel very ashamed:

There is no doubt that the current administration led by President Mohammed Buhari is immensely oppressive and has no regard for human rights. As moral teaches, the people have a right and a duty to resist and topple oppressive regimes. Time and time again, people have made efforts to make their voices heard and initiate conversations. Many have tried to reason with the current administration to better citizens' living conditions. But all these have turned out fruitless. This regime's worst damage is putting the judiciary in a compromising position.

When state authorities become unjust and contradict the natural law, as is obtainable in Nigeria now, citizens are not bound to obey them. When faced with unacceptable situations such as everyday killings, kidnapping, maiming and other forms of violence against the people, they have an obligation to resist. Self-determination applies as a natural human law. As it is known, a government does not become illegitimate merely because of occasional cases of unjust laws or slow solutions to national problems. They become illegitimate through continuous misuse of their power contrary to the common welfare of citizens. Laws are unjust if they conflict with the citizens' human and existential rights. The judiciary, they say, is the last hope of the common man, but when it is compromised, your guess is as good as mine.

 

A few days ago, the Nigerian president, Mohammed Buhari, was interviewed on Channels TV. An interviewer asked him about Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra. From the president's comments, something is fishy. Let us refresh our memory: on 14 October 2015, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was kidnapped and detained for almost two years, despite various court rulings for his release. One such example was Hon. Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the state security service to release the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally. Justice Ademola said, "no law permits the DSS or any other security agency to detain anyone beyond two months without bringing such person before a competent court". This current administration has disobeyed various court rulings on this freedom fighter for the self-determination of his people. In December 2015, President Buhari, in a media chat, also made a pre-judicial comment like the one he made in the Channels interview.

Furthermore, Hon Justice Binta Nyako released Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on bail on 28 April 2017 with stringent bail conditions. He is a prisoner of conscience. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was preparing for his court hearing on 17 October 2021. The army went to his family home in Isi-ama Afaraukwu in Umuahia Abia state to kill him on the 14 September 2017, a person under the court's guide and care. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was evacuated to safety by IPOB volunteers the M Branch, but 28 young Biafrans were killed in cold blood. The court did not ask the army why they went to kill a man under the court's care. The compromised court only asked the surety to produce Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. One wonders if Justice Binta Nyako would have asked for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu if the army had killed him the way they killed 28 Biafrans in his home. 

Nigeria has committed an international crime, an extraordinary rendition from Kenya, kidnapping a British citizen Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Now Buhari is saying that he should be in court to defend himself. Wasn't he preparing for his date in court before the army invasion of his house where 28 young Biafrans were killed in cold blood on 14 September 2017? From that interview, is it not clear that the current administration has instructed the court to jail Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for fighting for the freedom of his people? For the judge to even take up the case is dishonourable. Extraordinary rendition is an international crime. The honourable thing for Justice Binta Nyako is to ask the DSS to pass through the proper extradition process. I leave the Nigerian judiciary with these words from the Catholic Bishop of Aba Diocese Schema, "YOU MUST JUSTIFY YOUR POSITIONS... IF NOT, WE (YOU) BECOME USELESS".

The restoration of Biafra is our last hope.