US lawmaker demands IPOB leader Kanu's release

• Published date: 09 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

AUnited States lawmaker, Jarvis Johnson, on Monday urged the Federal Government to immediately release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Johnson represents District 39 in the Texas House of Representatives.

He made the call in a statement entitled: 'Representative Johnson speaks out against oppression within the Nigerian Government and the freedom of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu'.

He stated: 'Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is the foremost freedom fighter for the rights of oppressed people in Nigeria.

'For over 19 months, after he was kidnapped in Kenya, tortured, and illegally taken to Nigeria, he has been in solitary confinement.

'In July 2022, a United Nations Working Group, after its deliberations on his matter, called for his unconditional release.

'The Nigerian Government has not complied.

'On October 22, several Nigerian trial and appeals courts, acquitted and discharged him of all the bogus charges levied against him by the Nigerian government.

'The Nigerian government has refused to obey the orders of its own courts, and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains in solitary confinement enforced by its Secret Police.'

The Congressman, considered one of the foremost voices for the oppressed in the USA and within the minority communities, said 'Mazi Kanu's health conditions have been ignored by Nigeria's Secret Police.'

Johnson added: 'He has been denied access to his doctors and the regular supply of his medications.

'His health has increasingly deteriorated, and it is now feared that he may die in solitary confinement.

'Mazi Kanu's only offence is that he is the leading advocate for the freedom of all oppressed Nigerians, and a referendum on the Biafran issue.

'The right of free speech including political advocacy is a cornerstone of all democracies.

'At a time when democracy is threatened globally, it is imperative that we all join hands to protect Mazi Kanu's right to freedom of speech.

'The illegal kidnapping, torture, and solitary confinement of Mazi Kanu offends our democratic norms.

'So does the willful disobedience of the judgments of its own courts by the Nigerian government.

'I am demanding the immediate release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

'The government of Nigeria needs to comply with the UN Mandate and the orders of its own courts.

'The Nigerian government is...