The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has taken a swipe at the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for alleged disparaging statement he made
against the group accusing it of being responsible for the attacks on p police stations and prisons in the country.
IPOB said the statement was not only subjudice, given the ongoing trial of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, but it is also a brazen attempt to pervert the course of justice by intimidating the judiciary—particularly Justice James Omotosho, who is currently presiding over the case.
The group disclosed this in a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Powerful, on Saturday in Abuja.
The statement added that Ribadu’s utterances betrayed the mindset of a regime that holds the law in contempt and treats due process as a hindrance to its ethnic expansionist ambitions.
The statement read: “We have taken note of a most contemptuous and inflammatory statemnt attributed to Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
“In a display of staggering impunity, Ribadu accused IPOB and ESN of crimes for which no competent court of law has found them guilty, including destruction of police stations and aiding prison breaks.
“This statement is not only manifestly subjudice, given the ongoing trial of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, but it is also a brazen attempt to pervert the course of justice by intimidating the judiciary—particularly Justice Omotosho who is currently presiding over the case.
“We remind the world that on 22nd May 2025, the government’s own star witness, PW-BBB, admitted under cross-examination that the DSS reports directly to the National Security Adviser.
“That Ribadu—who exercises control over the agency detaining Mazi Nnamdi Kanu—has now pronounced IPOB and ESN guilty in the public sphere is a chilling confirmation that this trial is nothing more than a predetermined political witch-hunt.
“Ribadu’s utterances betray the mindset of a regime that holds the law in contempt and treats due process as a hindrance to its ethnic expansionist ambitions. It is a dog whistle, a coded message to the judiciary: convict Mazi Nnamdi Kanu regardless of the facts or the law.
“This is the conduct of a banana republic—not a constitutional democracy. Even the late General Sani Abacha, for all his authoritarian excesses, did not descend to such crude meddling in judicial processes.
“If Ribadu or any other Janjaweed functionary with a deep-seated hatred for Ndigbo has any evidence against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, let them present it in court before Justice Omotosho. Grandstanding to rent-a-mouth journalists who are ignorant of basic legal decorum is not how justice is served. It is how tyranny is sustained.
“We further call out the United Kingdom Government, which by its silence and complicity has enabled the Nigerian regime to repeatedly violate the rights of a British citizen. The UK must search its soul and ask: is this the justice you claim to uphold? Is this your standard of human rights protection? Your tacit approval has emboldened rogue actors like Ribadu to mock international law and trample on basic judicial integrity.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s trial is not just a national matter; it is a global litmus test for the rule of law, for the right to self-determination, and for the sanctity of the judiciary. We call on all civilised nations, human rights organisations, and conscientious legal minds to denounce Ribadu’s recklessness and demand an immediate halt to this charade of a trial. Justice must not only be done—it must be seen to be done.”
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