-Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has joined other Nigerians criticising the alleged invasion Nnamdi Kanu's home
- Falana said the action of the security operatives was a violation of the constitution- The lawyer asked for the immediate withdrawal of the soldiers from Kanu's home.

Fiery Lagos-based lawyer, Femi Falana, has come hard against the Nigerian Army saying the Federal Government flouted the stipulations of the constitution with the action.Falana said the security operatives carried out illegality in allegedly invading the home of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He listed seven grounds of argument to back his allegation.The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) noted that the government had the responsibility to protect law and order, but added that such should not be carried out with disregard to the constitution.“No doubt, the Federal Government of Nigeria has the duty to maintain law and order in the country. But it is the duty which cannot be carried out outside the ambit of the law of the land.

Last weekend, armed troops invaded Abia state to deal with the alleged threat of Mr Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to destabilise the country.“It was reported yesterday that the troops have taken over the family house of Mr Kanu and put him under house arrest,”he said.The seven grounds on which Falana based his argument include:

1. By virtue of section 215 (3) of the Constitution the Nigeria Police Force has been conferred with the exclusive power to maintain law and order and secure public safety and public order in the country.

2. Having filed an application in the Federal High Court for the re-arrest and detention of Mr Kanu for allegedly breaching the conditions attached to hisbail the federal government ought not tohave presented the trial judge with afait accompli by resorting to self-help in the circumstance.

3. Although the President is empoweredby virtue of section 217(2) of the Constitution to deploy the armed forces for the “suppression of insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore law order” he cannot exercise the power until there is an insurrection or civil disturbance which cannot be contained by the police.


4. Since there was no insurrection in Aba state which the Nigeria Police Force could not contain the deployment of armed troops by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces cannot be justified in law.

5. However, if the federal government has evidence of other criminal offences recently committed by Mr. Kanu the Police should have been directed to arrest him and charge him to court without any delay.


6. Neither the constitution nor the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 has empowered the Nigeria Army to arrest any citizen who is not subject to service law.

7. In the case of Yussuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt 956) 96 the Court of Appeal held that:“It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for in wrestling power from the military in 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianise the polity to ensure the survival and sustenance of democracy.”

He wondered why armed soldiers have constantly taken the responsibilities of the police while state governments have allowed armed soldiers to remain members of the police anti-robbery squads despite the fact that the country is in democracy.
He warned that the soldiers should be ordered back to the barracks while the police should be allowed to maintain law and order in Abia state.

I believe that this will hasten the break up

Falana gbo tie, ti ara eni la un koko gbo

oya KANU see lawyer.he can handle your case but it is money for ground.representing for court
only #200 million chikena!

It is understandable and clear. The only "crime" the Nigerian Army have been massively deployed to the South East to bulldoze is the Biafra agitation.

The conspiracy was ripe, we saw it, we knew it and we expected it. Anyone with functional intellect will have same comprehension. It is not over 5 months the UNDP declared the South East most habitable place in Nigeria. Statistics as this have always been in the favour of the South East. They are Peaceful!!

Such notably heavy crime as terrorism has never been recorded in the South East and mayhem on innocent citizens is scarcely accounted given the prevalence of such crime in other parts of Nigeria.

Accepted, the vestiges of kidnapping, armed robbery are seen and heard of in the South East. But the question begging for answer is, are these minor societal unrest or delinquent acts beyond the powers of the Police, the NSCDC, the SSS that the Army would be loosed from their chains in the barracks to unleash mayhem?

For the past few days that the exercise have begun, have the people of the South East been relieved of the fears and apprehension the government fallaciously claimed had gripped them in the past few months or are they seeing more threats to their lives than ever?

I have seen a message circulating on Whatsapp which sought to advise people how to behave themselves until after the operation of the military and I wonder, if the people would be more gripped with fear and settle in uncertainty and bondage when the army were said to restore normalcy in their land and give them freedom, of what essence then is the Operation?

Needless dwelling on the premise. The logical conclusion is quite glaring. Just landing in the South East and the first duty was to "test army armory" or as the told us engage in "Show of force" in Nnamdi Kanu's house of all the places in the South East, shows the Buahri led government is clearly in a war against Nnamdi Kanu, his IPOB, the South East and by extension, opposition voices.