From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, (COSEYL), the umbrella body of all youth groups in the South East, has condemned the verdict of Justice Njako denying IPOB leader bail.
President General of the group, Goodluck Ibem, in a statement, described the judgment as inhuman and injustice against Kanu’s right. It also alleged that the ruling was influenced by President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent speech during a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson.
Ibem criticised President Buhari for telling the British Prime Minister that Kanu was arrested based on the things he said against his person, saying the implication is that the entire judicial exercise is a gross personal vendetta.
He said there should be seperation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary.
“But what we saw today (yesterday) in court in the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu shows that President Buhari now dictate the verdict of the court. Our hard earned democracy brought to us by our founding fathers have been reduced to nothing with what we saw. The judiciary all over the world is the last hope of the common man, but what happened in court were the statement of President Buhari made some days ago in Kigali, Kwanda to suddenly become the verdict of the court in a supposed democracy leaves much to be desired.”
The group argued that Kanu did not jump bail but only fled to stay alive when the Nigerian army came to his house to kill him and his entire household.