From Ogbonnaya Ndukwe, Aba
First counsel to detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is charged for treasonable felony by the Federal Government, Chief Chuks Muoma (SAN), has accused the Buhari administration of delaying trial of his client.
He lamented that the government was holding Kanu just to show that it could detain perpetually anyone agitating for good governance and better treatment of his people.
Muoma said there were no hard facts on the charges leveled against the IPOB leader that would make it difficult and almost impossible for his trial to be continued and concluded within six months of his arraignment in court.
“I don’t know what are in those charges that make it difficult and almost impossible for his trial to be conducted and concluded within six months from the day it started” he said.
He recalled that he had led Kanu’s defence team before being elected National Legal Adviser of Ohaneze Ndigbo in 2017, noting that he could not see the reason for the foot-dragging by prosecutors in the case which they could not concluded within six or 12 months.
“I am beginning to have a feeling that the procedure or tactics being employed by the prosecutor in the case gives the impression that he (Kanu) is being persecuted and not prosecuted.
“The long adjournments being given by the trial court is scandalous. I hope, with due respect, that that trial is not being manipulated and interfered with by someone outside the court room because the case is not progressing.
The leader of Igbo Lawyers Association (ILA) spoke further on the directive by the United Nations body on human rights, urging the Federal Government to immediately release and pay adequate compensation to the IPOB leader, stressing that the indictment had placed a serious international moral burden on Nigeria.
According to the elder statesman, Kanu is going through persecution in the hands of the powers that be, because he is an Igbo man, who only availed himself of his freedom of expression.