₦airaland Forum

The Presidency has strongly opposed Omoyele Sowore’s plan to hold a protest march to the Presidential Villa in Abuja, demanding the release of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who remains in detention.

Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, condemned the protest through a statement on his official X account @aonanuga1956, labelling Sowore “an anarchist masquerading as a rights activist.”

Sowore announced the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest would take place on October 20 at 7 a.m., calling the march “historic” in seeking Kanu’s freedom.

In response, Onanuga insisted the planned demonstration threatens law and order, emphasising that Kanu is currently undergoing trial on treason charges that must proceed without interference.

“You are nothing more than an anarchist masquerading as a rights activist. You very well know that Nnamdi Kanu is facing trial for treason, and you want to cause a breakdown of law and order by mobilising for a protest?” Onanuga questioned.

He further challenged Sowore’s notion of revolution, asking,

“Is this the kind of revolution you envisage for Nigeria, where the rule of law will be violated and your idea of justice would be the law of the jungle?”

Onanuga also criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for endorsing the protest, accusing him of opportunism.

“I am surprised that ex-VP Atiku Abubakar, who is always opportunistic, has supported the planned mob action. As a statesman, he should know better that matters of justice are not resolved on the streets but in the law court,” he said.

Despite the Judiciary’s slow pace, Onanuga affirmed the government’s commitment to justice regarding Kanu’s case.

“While the wheel of justice can sometimes be grindingly slow, partly caused by Kanu’s lawyers, Nnamdi Kanu will eventually get the justice he deserves for his alleged transgressions,” he concluded.

President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson, Temitope Ajayi, in a statement on Thursday, described Atiku’s public endorsement of Kanu’s release as “political desperation” and “a disgraceful agenda” unbecoming of a statesman.

Ajayi said Kanu was the architect of his prolonged detention, accusing him and his legal team of deliberately stalling proceedings.

He noted that the prosecution had already closed its case and that the court had ordered Kanu to open his defence after rejecting his no-case submission.

Ajayi accused Kanu and his followers of causing widespread violence and hardship in the South East over the past decade, saying their actions had “killed, ruined lives, and destroyed tens of thousands of livelihoods.”

Ajayi stated, “The political desperation that will make a former Vice President and a supposed statesman to be advancing this kind of disgraceful agenda is mind-numbing.

“If Nnamdi Kanu has stayed long in detention and his case has dragged on, it is because he made it so himself not because the legal system is against him. Kanu and his lawyers have used every trick and legal gymnastics to frustrate his trial.

“The Prosecution has closed its case against him. It is time for him to open his defence. No politically motivated protest will stop that after the court has ruled that he must open his defence. His lawyers entered a no-case submission, which the court threw away.

“Kanu and his foot soldiers have killed, ruined lives, and destroyed tens of thousands of livelihoods in the South East in the last 10 years. Communities in parts of the South East now lie desolate on account of Kanu’s hate campaigns.

“It is unconscionable that a former Vice President of Nigeria wants an anarchist to get a free pass and not be held accountable under the law of a country he still seeks to govern just for his own selfish political ambition. There is a minimum standard a former Vice President should never fall below.”

Pakute:
https://thesun.ng/presidency-kicks-against-sowores-call-for-free-nnamdi-kanu-protest/

pharmagba:
Immediately the verdict and sentencing of Simon Epka in Finland was announced, Nnamdi Kanu and his lawyers got the message.
Kanu will be convicted in Nigeria. Kanu and his lawyer realised this and diverted on the path to medical / health issue of Kanu.
I think his lawyers has said no case submission,
I think the judge should just pronounce judgement.
Also the Nigeria Medical Association are also cautious bearing the nature of the issue. Most doctors won't want sign.

Pakute:
https://thesun.ng/presidency-kicks-against-sowores-call-for-free-nnamdi-kanu-protest/

Wallade:
Why should Nnamdi Kanu's apologists be pushing a political solution or acquittal of Kanu while his case is in court, on trial?

Is that an admission of guilt?

Sowore is simply an anarchist as described, he has his own cases in court and he is defending himself in court yet he wants a forced acquittal for someone who should be defending himself in court.

As for Atiku, I am not surprised because he is for anything to discredit, destabilize and ruin the current government.

Wallade:
Why should Nnamdi Kanu's apologists be pushing a political solution or acquittal of Kanu while his case is in court, on trial?

Is that an admission of guilt?

Sowore is simply an anarchist as described, he has his own cases in court and he is defending himself in court yet he wants a forced acquittal for someone who should be defending himself in court.

As for Atiku, I am not surprised because he is for anything to discredit, destabilize and ruin the current government.

SmartPolician:
Nigeria is a country of double standards and this case exposes that. It's okay for the FG to free and rehabilitate repentant terrorists but Kanu cannot go home and attend his court cases from home even when a court repeatedly discharged him. They've been playing politics with the case and frustrating him.

BrokenTV:
Stupid talk from the presidency spokesman. Or whatever he calls himself.

beerfraud:
Atiku and Sowore are seriously looking for trouble
How can you say FG should release terrorist? Because of what nah

rickyrex:
ignoramus... and you saw a bandit fully loaded with guns and bullet tie to his neck to attend a so called peace nagotiations. You and your gvt did nothing absolutely nothing about it. You want to tell me those guns where for hunting? But at the mention of nnamdi kalu every preak must stand and every haters of igbo must shout

Moreze:
And what makes him a terrorist, can u define the word terrorist. So those bokoharam/bandits that has killed many,later reinteregrated in to the society are called what. You are shameless, a man who fights for the emancipation of his people,who pple like u hate with passion is called a terrorist ..just because he wants freedom for his people..

markidoo:
Nnamdi Kanu is your problem but the bandits in the North Killing and displacing Citizens are Having a Filled Day in the North.