Posted by Onwuka Nzeshi


The move by the Federal Government to hold Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and others responsible for the disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), may hit a brickwall as legal opinions outside government circles do not seem to support such a plan.

A source conversant with the matter told our correspondent that the preponderance of legal opinions showed that it was the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. T.Y. Buratai, and the Commanders of Operation Python Dance (2) that should be held responsible for Kanu’s disappearance and not anyone else.

According to our source, the Federal Government and its military would have themselves to blame if Kanu remains incommunicado, by October 17, 2017, the date he is expected to appear in court to answer to the charges pending against him.

“The idea of holding sureties responsible for the disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu is not only ridiculous but laughable. It is true that some personalities signed the bail bond that led to his release from prison.

It is also true that Kanu may have violated some of his bail conditions, but that should have been left to the court to decide and then mete the necessary sanctions on him.

“The bail bond was the outcome of a judicial process and therefore, a legal instrument of a court of competent jurisdiction.

It is obvious that the court did not envisage that the Federal Government, a party in the dispute, will, at some point, take the laws into its own hands and act in the manner it has done.

“Why did the Federal Government decide to resort to self help by invading the residence of Kanu with armoured tanks? It is more or less jungle justice to invade the home of an unarmed Nigerian citizen, shooting sporadically at the building and causing unquantifiable collateral damages.

As it is today, neither Kanu’s lawyers nor the sureties have seen Kanu since the military invasion of his home.

“It is only the Federal Government and the military that can tell the world why they prempted the court and decided to take the laws into their on hands. It is because they either wanted to arrest Kanu and detain him ahead of his date in court, or they wanted to kill him using jungle justice. Either way, they cannot eat their cake and have it.

The onus lies on them to produce Kanu when the need arises because they have willfully sidelined the due process of court in their desperation to achieve political goals.

They can’t eat their cake and still have it,” the source said. Although Abaribe could not be reached on his mobile phone for reactions to the development, his Special Assistant on Media Affairs, Mr. Uche Awom, told Sunday Telegraph that his principal and others who stood surety for Kanu did so in good faith and as law abiding citizens of Nigeria.

According to Awom, there was no cause for alarm as the sureties had kept their own side of the bargain before the military threw spanners in the works.

mazimee:
Buhari is a mad

mazimee:
Buhari is a mad

Alariwo2:
Wait first na.. Let Kanu fail to appear in court for his trial

History will be made of them.. were they forced to stand-in for the felon at gun point?

We shall see

kp3tech:
The government Should not have openly took law into their hands. Worst still Is they failed.

They Should be pressured to produce Kanu... For also stalling court process

Buhari need to understand they are what we call due processes...

He lost this one

afroniger:
The real question should be WHERE IS KANU? Answering this question will determine the fate of Abaribe and others who stood for him. If he's been murdered by the army as some of his supporters are alleging, then why this issue of his whereabout then?

But if it can be established that he is truly in hiding, then Abaribe and others will have to convince him to come out or else they will be in trouble and should be ready to forfeit their money. It is that simple.

Alariwo2:
Wait first na.. Let Kanu fail to appear in court for his trial

History will be made of them.. were they forced to stand-in for the felon at gun point?

We shall see

afroniger:
The real question should be WHERE IS KANU? Answering this question will determine the fate of Abaribe and others who stood for him. If he's been murdered by the army as some of his supporters are alleging, then why this issue of his whereabout then?

But if it can be established that he is truly in hiding, then Abaribe and others will have to convince him to come out or else they will be in trouble and should be ready to forfeit their money. It is that simple.

freeze001:


If he is in hiding will he tell his sureties where he's hiding? Do they have access to him?

afroniger:


Well, if he is in hiding and deliberately refuses to tell his sureties, that would imply that he is a man of very questionable character because then he would be knowingly putting his sureties crebility and assets at risk. He at least owes them the right to know his whereabouts. These people put their reputations and assets on the line on his behalf to secure his conditional release. It would be unfair to them. Very unfair.

freeze001:


And this is for someone in morbid fear for his life having watched his family members, unarmed youths and even d family dog bite the bullet in real terms? If it were u, be honest, would u not be afraid for ur life? Did the army come with any valid warrant of arrest or they came as a force determined to overcome a violent foe? Just stop and think then ask urself who is responsible for the current impasse: the Nig govt through the army or an unarmed civilian with nothing but his mouth, young, shortchanged youths and some sticks and bottles.