Ad

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Nnamdi Kanu’s US Lawyer Set To Take Nigerian Government To International Criminal Court


The United States-based lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Bruce Fein, has vowed to pursue all international and diplomatic protocols platforms to ensure that the Nigeria government complies with international laws.

Fein stated that he would drag the Nigerian government and President Muhammadu Buhari before the ICC for committing crimes against humanity and violation of conventions.

He said the alleged kidnapping and torture of the IPOB leader in Kenya by the Nigerian government was a gross violation of international law.

Fein disclosed these on Monday in Abuja while narrating his experience in the hands of operatives of Department of State Services who denied him access for the second time to visit his client in the custody.

The constitutional lawyer, who arrived in the country last week with the aim of meeting with his client and discussing his legal case, was turned back on Thursday September 2, 2021, alongside Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor by the gun-wielding operatives. 

They were told that the officer who was charged with the responsibility of taking them to meet Kanu in an underground cell was away on special assignment.

He said  upon their arrival at the DSS facility on  Monday, the operatives came up with a flimsy excuse that there was no approval for him to be part of the visit because he came from foreign jurisdiction and would not be allowed to be part of the visit.

Meanwhile at the end of the encounter, only Ejiofor was allowed to see him briefly while Fein was kept outside.

Fein said, “I will be pursuing all international and diplomatic protocols platforms to see that justice is done and international laws and norms are complied with.

“Among other institutions, I plan to visit the International working group on arbitration that sits in Geneva. It is an arm of United Nations and is a human rights’ council.

“We are going to pursue all these on legitimate platforms in the international community to make it clear that anything that transpires regarding Nnamdi Kanu’s case is fully in the sunshine; it would not be clouded.

“An example of the concerns that have been raised on the proceedings so far is the gross violation of international laws.  First Nnamdi Kanu’s kidnapping is a violation of international law. His torture before returning to Nigeria is a violation of international law and denying him access to his counsel is violation of international law.”

Fein explained that no state could set aside or renounce the principles of international law that applies everywhere, adding that the exponential increase in human rights’ violation by the Nigerian government had become a major source of concern to the international community, particularly the United States.

On his own part Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor said, "We went back today but unfortunately, Fein was not allowed to see him. I was only the person that was permitted to see him. But we insisted in knowing why they denied him access. They were kind of vague in their reason. I saw him (Kanu), he is stable and firm in his conviction.”

No comments:

Oil theft: Troops dismantle 37 illegal refining sites, confiscate over 130,000 stolen products in Niger Delta

Troops of the Nigerian Army have dismantled 37 illegal refining sites, arrested ten suspected oil thieves and recovered over 130,000 litres ...