The Initiative Against Human Rights Abuse and Torture (INAHURAT) has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, describing his ongoing trial as “an unlawful persecution, not a prosecution.”
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Gerald Katchy, on Monday in Abuja, the group faulted the Supreme Court’s December 2023 decision ordering a retrial, insisting the apex court acted without jurisdiction.
“The trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a travesty. The Supreme Court attempted to revive a case that was already dead in law. This is not only a jurisdictional catastrophe but also a deliberate act of persecution,” Katchy said.
INAHURAT recalled that the Court of Appeal on October 13, 2022, discharged and acquitted Kanu on grounds that his extraordinary rendition from Kenya was unlawful and violated his fundamental rights.
“From that moment, there was no criminal charge pending against Nnamdi Kanu in any Nigerian court. He was, in the eyes of the law, an innocent man,” the group maintained, citing the precedent in Salu v. Egeibon (1994), which bars retrial after an acquittal.
Although the federal government secured a stay of execution on Kanu’s release, INAHURAT argued that the stay order did not affect the substantive acquittal.
“For 14 months, from October 2022 to December 2023, the case was a legal ghost — a shell without substance. The Supreme Court therefore ruled on a nullity,” the statement read.
The group further argued that subjecting Kanu to a retrial would amount to double jeopardy, in violation of Section 36(9) of the Constitution.
“The Court of Appeal is a court of competent jurisdiction. Its acquittal triggered the constitutional shield of double jeopardy. Any attempt at retrial is a brazen violation of the supreme law of the land,” Katchy said.
INAHURAT also questioned the legal basis of the charges, noting that they were brought under the repealed Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013.
“That law was repealed in May 2022 by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022. You cannot prosecute anyone under a law that no longer exists. It is like putting something on nothing,” the group declared.
Beyond the legal arguments, the group accused the government of tainting the entire process through unlawful actions, including Kanu’s extraordinary rendition, the military invasion of his home in Abia State, and persistent bias in court proceedings.
“Justice Emmanuel Agim of the Supreme Court himself admitted that these actions made it impossible for Kanu to be tried fairly. Under the doctrine of the ‘fruit of the poisonous tree,’ all proceedings are null and void,” the statement noted.
INAHURAT urged the Attorney-General of the Federation to file a nolle prosequi to terminate what it described as a nullity. It also called on the Federal High Court to dismiss the charges suo motu and urged the Nigerian Bar Association to defend the integrity of the legal system.
The group appealed to international human rights bodies and diplomatic missions to recognize Kanu as a victim of extraordinary rendition and political persecution.
“The only constitutional, lawful, and just outcome is the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Anything less is an affront to the rule of law and Nigeria’s constitutional order,” INAHURAT concluded.
