Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has revealed why Kanu was not arrested during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Ejimakor explained that because Jonathan did not consider self-determination to be a crime, Kanu was not apprehended at the time.
Kanu was arrested in 2015 on charges of treason, terrorism, and running an illegal society.
He was facing legal proceedings when he was granted bail by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Federal High Court in 2017. Kanu left Nigeria for Europe after being released.
He was later apprehended in Kenya in 2021 and repatriated to Nigeria.
He has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) since then while his trial is ongoing.
Aloy Ejimakor emphasized the international, domestic, and continental recognition of the right to self-determination during the ‘Free Nnamdi Kanu’ conference in Washington.
He emphasized that IPOB’s formation did not violate any laws in the UK or Nigeria.
Kanu was not arrested between 2012 and 2015, according to Ejimakor, because it was understood at the time that self-determination was not a crime.
However, he noted that the government that took power in May 2015 took a different stance, criminalizing self-determination.
Kanu was apprehended in Lagos and charged with treason, illegal importation, and insulting the president as a result of his shift in perspective toward self-determination.
The statement made by Ejimakor at the conference sheds light on the contrasting approaches of the previous and current administrations to self-determination, as well as the implications for Kanu’s arrest and legal proceedings.