|
Listen to article
|
Some members of the House of Representatives from the South-East led by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to invoke the relevant sections of the Constitution to bring the trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu to an end.
This was as they said the dismissal of Kanu’s bail application by the court was another major setback for the healing process and return of peace in the region.
Justice Binta Nyako on Tuesday rejected Kanu’s bail request, and granted an accelerated hearing of the criminal case against Kanu.
Speaking on behalf of other South-East lawmakers who were in court, Ugochinyere stated that granting Kanu bail would have provided an opportunity to open doors for discussion to bring about peace in the South-East.
He said, “We received the news of the rejection of the bail with sadness and we just lost an opportunity to commence the process of healing in our land. That bail application, if granted would have brought an opportunity to open doors for discussion to bring about peace in the South-East.
“Just a few weeks back, the Federal Government discontinued the criminal charge filed against Omoyele Sowore by the Federal Government. I’m also aware that the Federal Government has allowed Sunday Igboho back home.
“We are calling on President Bola Tinubu not to allow to this moment pass him by. What the President should do and the Attorney General in particular, is to invoke the power invested on him under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution to discontinue the matter. The case can be discontinued in the interest of the public and justice.
Read Also:
“It is also painful for us that this bail application was rejected and we hope that President Tinubu will do the needful by discontinuing the matter.”
Meanwhile, Kanu, on Tuesday, urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to send him to Kuje prison rather than resturn him to the custody of the Department of State Services, where he had been since 2021.
He alleged that the DSS had no medical facility to treat him, saying there was a plan for him to die in the DSS custody.
Kanu spoke from the box after his bail application was declined by Justice Binta Nyako.
Kanu had on February 26 applied for a fresh bail, predicating his request on health grounds and also to be able to put up a good defence in the matter.
Ruling, the judge held that the earlier application he filed had been refused.
Justice Nyako noted that the only option opened to Kanu was to go to the Court of Appeal to challenge the earlier refusal.
She, however, ordered an accelerated hearing in the matter.
The Eastern Updates reports that Kanu had been standing trial on charges bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony since 2015.
He was earlier granted bail on health grounds on April 25, 2017, after spending 18 months in detention but he fled the country after an invasion of his residence by the military in September 2017.
