By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has condemned what it described as a \u201ccontinuing judicial travesty\u201d in the ongoing trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.<\/p>\n
AVID, in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by its President, Chief Dr. Sylvester Onyia, AVID expressed \u201cgrave concern and total condemnation\u201d over what it called the erosion of constitutional and judicial standards in Kanu\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
The statement alleged that the trial lacked legal foundation and violated both domestic and international principles of fair hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria\u2019s 1999 Constitution (as amended) is clear under Section 36(12) that no person shall be tried for any criminal offence unless that offence and its penalty are defined in a written law,\u201d the group stated. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a non-derogable constitutional safeguard, a cornerstone of due process, and a measure of any civilized nation\u2019s commitment to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to AVID, the Nigerian government continues to prosecute Kanu under the repealed Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013, despite the enactment of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which replaced it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet, before the world and under Justice Omotosho\u2019s watch, the Nigerian state persists in trying Mazi Nnamdi Kanu under a dead law \u2014 the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013 \u2014 which ceased to exist upon the enactment of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,\u201d AVID said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice Omotosho, contrary to the mandatory duty of judicial notice under Section 122(2)(a) of the Evidence Act, has refused to acknowledge this repeal. This is not a mere oversight; it is a judicial dereliction of constitutional duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group further faulted the judge\u2019s alleged decision to defer ruling on issues of jurisdiction and double jeopardy until final judgment, insisting that such questions strike at the root of any criminal trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice Omotosho\u2019s posture of \u2018wait till judgment\u2019 on questions of jurisdiction, double jeopardy, and validity of charge is the opposite of established precedents of the Supreme Court of Nigeria,\u201d the statement noted. <\/p>\n
\u201cJurisdictional defects strike at the root of a case and must be determined forthwith, not deferred. No court, no matter how highly placed, can arrogate to itself jurisdiction it does not possess,\u201d the statement emphasised.<\/p>\n
AVID cited Section 76(1)(d)(iii) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which, it said, requires that any alleged terrorism committed abroad must also constitute an offence in the jurisdiction where it occurred \u2014 in this case, Kenya, where Kanu was allegedly abducted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis double criminality requirement has not been met, yet the judge insists on proceeding, thus nullifying the moral and legal foundation of the entire trial,\u201d the group argued.<\/p>\n
The organization also accused Nigeria\u2019s legal and judicial institutions of silence in the face of what it termed \u201cconstitutional infidelity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is appalling that in the face of such manifest constitutional infidelity, Nigeria\u2019s legal institutions \u2014 the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the National Judicial Council (NJC), and so-called legal analysts \u2014 have chosen cowardly silence,\u201d the group lamented. <\/p>\n
\u201cA nation whose lawyers fear to ask, \u2018Under what law is this man being tried?\u2019 has surrendered its conscience to tyranny,\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n
AVID also expressed concern over what it called \u201cthe destruction of every element of fair hearing\u201d guaranteed under Section 36(1) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the denial of access to lawyers and family in DSS custody to the judicial disregard of documentary evidence before the court, every element of fair hearing has been destroyed in Justice Omotosho\u2019s court,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Citing an incident in open court, the veterans\u2019 group claimed Kanu had asked for a brief recess in the judge\u2019s chambers \u201cto prevent the judiciary\u2019s embarrassment\u201d but was denied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in court, asked for a five-minute recess in the judge\u2019s chambers to prevent the judiciary\u2019s embarrassment, he was rebuffed,\u201d AVID said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he raised the profound constitutional question \u2014 \u2018Under what law am I being tried?\u2019 \u2014 Justice Omotosho retorted, \u2018Wait till judgment.\u2019 That a sitting Federal High Court judge can preside over a criminal trial without identifying a subsisting law is the ultimate indictment of Nigeria\u2019s judicial decay,\u201d AVID stressed.<\/p>\n
The group called on international bodies, including the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the U.S. Department of State, the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, and the International Criminal Court (ICC), to monitor and document what it described as \u201congoing judicial abuses in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in its present form, is not just a constitutional aberration but an affront to international human rights standards on fair trial and rule of law,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
AVID urged Nigeria to \u201cchoose between law and lawlessness,\u201d saying the ongoing proceedings undermine the nation\u2019s claim to democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice Omotosho\u2019s courtroom has become a theatre of constitutional absurdity \u2014 a place where a man is asked to defend himself against a non-existent law, where judicial notice is optional, and where constitutional provisions are treated as irritants,\u201d the group said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf Nigeria still claims to be a constitutional democracy, it must immediately halt this charade, restore the rule of law, and release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has condemned what it described as a \u201ccontinuing judicial travesty\u201d in the ongoing trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja. AVID, in a statement issued on Thursday and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1695,3121,1640,1541],"class_list":["post-8475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime","tag-constitutional","tag-erosion","tag-proceedings","tag-undermine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8476,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8475\/revisions\/8476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}