Politics

Nigeria: Attorney-general, Malami, insists separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, discharged not acquitted

Published

2 years ago

October 14, 2022

Following a court ruling in favour leader of a Nigerian separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu against the federal government of Nigeria, the government has reacted to the ruling.

A three-man panel upheld the Court of Appeal sitting in the country’s capital, Abuja, discharged the embattled Kanu on Thursday.

The court held that the Federal High Court lacks the jurisdiction to try Mr. Kanu on the grounds of his rendition to Nigeria which violates the protocol on extradition and the OAU convention.

The office of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), in a statement issued by Dr. Umar Gwandu, special assistant on media and public relations to the minister of Justice said the decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issue that borders on rendition, and other issues remained valid for judicial determination.

Attorney-general Abubakar Malami through the statement noted that Mr. Kanu was only discharged but not acquitted.

The statement reads “The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has received the news of the decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the trial of Nnamdi Kanu. For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the Court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.

“Consequently, the appropriate legal options before the authorities will be exploited and communicated accordingly to the public.

“The decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issue that borders on rendition.

“Let it be made clear to the general public that other issues that predate rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination.

“The federal government will consider all available options open to us on the judgment on rendition while pursuing determination of pre-rendition issues.”

Kanu was first arraigned on December 23, 2015, and was later granted bail on April 25, 2017. He was later arrested in Kenya and extradited for trial by the Federal government of Nigeria in June 2021.

The Nigerian state under the current administration has a history of disobeying court orders with reference to rulings against it like in the trial of the former National Security Adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan. A refusal to release a religious leader, El zakzaky according to court order is also a case in point.

Going by Nigeria’s attorney general’s position, Will Nnamdi Kanu join the train of “the unreleased”? Time will tell.

Related Topics:#IPOB #Nnamdi Kanu Featured Nigeria

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Politics

Burkina Faso investigating reports of northern killings

Published

18 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A government spokesman has revealed that Burkina Faso is looking into reports that 223 people were killed by the Burkinabe army in two villages in the north in February.

The killing was first reported by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), causing a rift between the junta-led West African state and some foreign media that published the report. The HRW report released on Thursday said that the military had executed residents of Nodin and Soro, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with jihadist terrorists. The report was based on interviews with witnesses, members of civil society, and other groups.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, a spokesman for the government, said that HRW’s claims were “peremptory” and that the junta was not unwilling to look into the claimed crimes.

“An investigation has been launched into the killings in Nodin and Soro,” Ouedraogo said in a late-evening statement, quoting a statement from a regional prosecutor on March 1.

Since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s militaries took over in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023, violence in the area has gotten worse. This is because of the ten-year fight with Islamist groups related to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Attacks on Burkina Faso got much worse in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to the U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.

Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.