The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has praised the “brilliant, fact-based and legally devastating arguments presented today (Friday, July 18) in open court by Chief Kanu Agabi SAN, in defence of Nnamdi Kanu.”
The pro-Biafra group, in a statement by its Directorate of Legal Affairs, Research and Global Communications, has, however, condemned what it called “the calculated and cowardly silence of the Nigerian press” on Agabi’s submission.
Reviewing today’s proceedings in the federal high court, Abuja in the treason trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained IPOB leader, the IPOB lamented that “while Agabi’s submission, anchored on the glaring lack of evidence, due process violations, and fundamental constitutional protections, laid bare the hollowness of the federal government’s case, the media instead chose to regurgitate sensational and unfounded propaganda spewed by the prosecution,” insisting that “this is not journalism (but) complicity in injustice.”
In the statement signed by Onyedikachi Ifedi, Esq, for its Directorate of Legal Affairs, Research and Global Communications, IPOB raised some “fundamental” questions which, the group alleged, journalists refused to ask, including, among others:
Where is the list of the over 170 security officers the prosecution claimed were killed as a result of Mazi Kanu’s broadcasts?
Who or where are the families of these alleged victims and why did they not testify in court?
Which individual has claimed, under oath, that they were goaded into committing violence as a result of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s broadcasts?
Who issued the unsigned, unauthenticated death certificates the DSS tried to smuggle into evidence?
Where is the forensic pathologist or investigator linking any death to IPOB or Mazi Kanu?
Noting that no such forensic pathologist or investigator linking any death to IPOB or Mazi Kanu exists, nor did even “one person testify in court that their loved one was killed due to Mazi Kanu,” IPOB lampooned the FG for building its case against Kanu “on fabrication (and) hearsay, anonymous security memos, and doctored DSS exhibits.”
“And yet the press remains mute,” the self-determination group sneered. “Agabi spoke first, why did the press hear only Awomolo? Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, former Attorney General of the Federation, addressed the court first today. His submission was clear, authoritative and rooted in law and reason. He exposed the government’s case for what it is: empty noise. Why then did the media houses all pretend that only the prosecution spoke?”
IPOB highlighted the salient points in Agabi’s fundamental rights arguments, wondering why the media seemingly turned a deaf ear to the senior lawyer’s “unassailable” arguments.
According to the IPOB, Agabi marshalled several compelling arguments putting a lie to the FG’s claims against Nnamdi Kanu.
Among such arguments are that: I) Self-determination is not a crime
II)No Nigerian law criminalizes calling for Biafra
III) Free speech, even harsh or fiery speech, is not terrorism IV) No evidence links Mazi Kanu’s utterances to violence V) No lawful investigation was conducted under the Terrorism Prevention Act.
“Instead, the media gave uncritical oxygen to laughable claims that because Mazi Kanu said ‘the world will stand still,’ Nigeria must imprison him,” the pro-Biafra self-determination group chided. “Since when did hyperbole become terrorism? If so, when will government officials who have made similar or worse threats be charged?”
Warning that the agitation for Biafra persists because of “such shameless media bias as in this Kanu case,” IPOB described the reportage of its leader’s court trial as “not only irresponsible but also dangerous,” agonizing that the injustice of the media trial that has driven the Nnamdi Kanu saga in the past 10 years or thereabout “proves what IPOB has long maintained: that Nigeria is a place where truth is suppressed, and injustice is not only normalised but celebrated.”
“This is why the people of Biafra seek to leave a system that tramples on justice, mocks due process and deploys its media as a weapon of political warfare,” the group stressed.
“When courts become theatres of spectacle, and the press becomes a ministry of propaganda, the people will look elsewhere for justice. That is what is happening.
“We dare every media house in Nigeria to publish verbatim what Kanu Agabi, SAN, told the court today.
“We challenge you to report that all five prosecution witnesses were DSS agents, that none of them tendered direct evidence of violence caused by Mazi Kanu.
That the “evidence” they submitted consisted of unsigned, unauthenticated documents.
That no victim, no investigator, no family member, no forensic expert testified in support of the government’s claims.
“You claim to report facts. Then do it. Publish Agabi’s submission in full.
“Let the world take note: what is happening in Abuja is not a fair trial, but a trial by media distortion and government fiction.
“We remind all Nigerians and the international community: well-scripted propaganda cannot replace facts, evidence, or the rule of law. The federal government’s case against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is legally unsustainable, morally bankrupt, and politically vindictive.
“Let the media do their job—or history will remember them as enablers of tyranny.”
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