The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to publicly clarify the legal foundation under which its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is currently being prosecuted by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB accused the Nigerian judiciary and legal community of failing to address what it described as a “fundamental legal irregularity” in Kanu’s ongoing trial.
“Let the NBA, as the supposed guardian of legal conscience in Nigeria, tell the world under what extant and subsisting law Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is being tried today. Just one question — under what law?” IPOB demanded.
The group alleged that the law under which Kanu was originally charged has been repealed, yet the courts have continued to proceed with the trial.
“Because the last time we checked, the law under which he was allegedly charged has been repealed. And the court itself seems too shy, or too complicit, to admit that elementary fact,” the statement read.
IPOB further criticised the NBA’s silence, arguing that it was time for the association to “demonstrate integrity” and take a position on whether the rule of law still holds in Nigeria.
“If the judiciary won’t say it, the NBA should. Unless, of course, they too have decided that the rule of law is now a suggestion, not a standard,” Powerful stated.
He added that IPOB’s demand was not a plea for sympathy but a call for transparency and justice, insisting that the association owed Nigerians an explanation.
“We are not asking for magic. We are asking for truth — the same truth the NBA once claimed to defend. The world is watching, and history is taking notes,” he said.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed IPOB, has been in detention since 2021 following his extraordinary rendition from Kenya. He faces treasonable felony and incitement charges, which his lawyers argue violate both Nigerian and international legal standards.