IPOB Asks For The Release Of El-zakzaky, Dasuki
IPOB Leader- Buhari ( Photo File)
IPOB Appeals To Buhari To Effect The Release Of El-zakzaky, Dasuki
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the Hague, to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to obey court judgments and orders by releasing the former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki and Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
In a statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, the group appealed to the the President of the ICC, Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji, and the Chief Prosecutor of the court, Madame Fatou Bensouda, to compel Federal Government to release the duo without further delay as ordered by various law courts in Nigeria.
According to Powerful, the situation the Nigerian president refused to release them that Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA) National Judicial Council (NJC) and the entire judicial machinery in Nigeria should consider going on strike as a way of forcing the government to obey judicial pronouncements.
Powerful, who condemned in the strong terms, the statement credited to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Mallami over the refusal of this administration to obey multiple court orders to release both El-Zakzaky and Dasuki from extra judicial detention.
He said that the most recent ruling by Hon. Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, admitting Dasuki on bail has once again been ignored, so has numerous pronouncements by the courts to set Sheik El-Zakzaky free, stressing that this flagrant disobedience of the rule of law was not only shameful but also an impeachable offence.
The statement said said, “Coming at the heels of ‘Buhari’s’ lecture at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on the virtues of rule of law and the commitment of his government to adhere to court orders, it is hypocritical and criminal for those that invited ‘Buhari’ to address them at the Hague conference to keep silent as rule of law is being destroyed in Nigeria.”
“The black African President of the ICC Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji and the equally black African Chief Prosecutor of the court Madame Fatou Bensouda must cover their faces in shame for inviting a man they know doesn’t obey the law to address them on the need for a government to adhere to the rule of law.”
“Inviting Buhari to address the ICC when he has steadfastly refused to obey the law when it comes to Col. Dasuki, Sheikh El-Zakzaky and many IPOB detainees is the greatest mistake the court has ever made.”
“It doesn’t speak well of the diplomatic community in Nigeria either, especially Britain, the colonial master and creator, to maintain a deafening silence in the face of unbridled tyranny.
“If Britain can offer its public opinion on the probity or lack of, in the conduct of elections in Ekiti State, surely it has a moral obligation to admonish the ‘Buhari’ government on its refusal to obey the law. Refusal to obey any given court order is reaffirmation that Nigeria is only practicing paper democracy not in deed.”
“Anywhere on earth the government is above the law, that society seizes to be regarded as democratic. A US president obeys court orders, so does a British Prime Minister, why not ‘Buhari’.
“Therefore those presently referring to Nigeria as a democracy are knowingly and willfully misleading the public, because democracies obey the rule of law.”
“When an Attorney General of a country proudly stand up to defend what is in essence indefensible, one is bound to question the collective mental ability of such a society and wonder if indeed they are civilised.”
“Courage means standing up for what is right, especially in defence of those who cannot defend themselves regardless of ethnicity, religion or orientation. That is what IPOB was created for and what it will continue to uphold until Biafra is restored and beyond.
“The very least ICC can now do, along with the diplomatic community of civilised nations resident in Nigeria, is to prevail upon ‘Buhari’ to release Col. Dasuki and Sheikh El-Zakzaky without further delay as ordered by various law courts of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Nigeria Bar Association, National Judicial Council (NJC) and the entire judicial machinery in Nigeria should consider going on strike as a way of forcing this government to obey judicial pronouncements,” Powerful added.
