The Attorney General of the federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami has revealed that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu cannot be released based on some issues surrounding his case despite the court ruling that he should be let off the hook and be paid compensation of 500million. Malami disclosed this yesterday in an interview with Vanguard that the interpretation of Kanu's judgment could not be used as the only bases to free him as he has other offenses committed by him against the federal government different from what was under consideration.
According to the minister, Nnamdi Kanu has about four other issues that are different from the interpretation of the court concerning his judgment that let him off the hook which he needs to be cleared off.
In his statement, Malami said, “To release or not to release Nnamdi Kanu is a function of law and the rule of law for that matter. In arriving at a decision on whether to release or not release, is one; you look at the rule of law, two; you look at the public and the national interest, three; you look at the security situation, four; you look at international diplomacy.
He added that “Let me talk first about the rule of law. This is someone that has been granted bail on account of charges that have been preferred against him at the court. Someone jumping bail to the international community, a case of a fugitive is established against the background of jumping the bail.
More so, “Two, arising from the national security, this is someone that is charged with treason, incitement, and destruction of civil authority, murder and assassination of others on account of his incitement, that boils down to issues of national security and criminality.
“Three, on account of international diplomacy, this is someone that has against his person, used the international community or a foreign country to launch an attack against a nation, against his nation for that matter.
Explaining further Malami noted that “So all these naturally come into play to determine what to do. So if you have through judicial processes established multiple cases of treason, homicide, and bail-jumping among others; the fact that you have indeed succeeded in one case as against multiple others that are pending goes to establish the fact that that case cannot be the only basis and criterion for determining whether you are entitled to be released or not.
According to the Attorney General, “Other than the case of rendition, which is indeed the only case that has been determined, there exist in the system other cases relating to jumping bail, other cases relating to inciting the public, other cases relating to murder, homicide, among others and indeed above all, within the context of the rule of law, the right of the federal government to challenge the decision that bothers on rendition, a challenge associated with the appeal, a challenge associated with setting aside a certain judgment if the need for doing so arises and indeed the multiple challenges within the context of the rule of law at the disposal of the federal government to exercise.
Malami queried, “So, the simple question is, whether what the federal government has done, by way of not releasing Kanu is justified within the context of the rule of law and my answer is yes, it is justified. This is because the single case that has been determined is not the only pending case against Kanu.
In his explanation, “There exist other multiple cases associated with treason, there exist multiple appeals that are pending and yet to be determined and then again, there is international public interest dimension and the essence of the government is the sustenance of a public and not individual interest.
Recall the Appeal court sitting in Abuja and the Federal High Court sitting in Abia state have all discharged the IPOB leader that the circumstance surrounding his arrest in Kenya was illegal after fleeing the country for several years.
Subsequently, the court imposed a fine of N500million on the federal government for the act of rendition which Kanu prayed to the court as compensation for the trauma he suffered.