A United States–based Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa, has called for the immediate release of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, describing his continued detention as a violation of Nigerian and international law.
Fr. Odimmegwa, who serves as the Coordinator of Rising Sun, a US-based non-profit organisation, made the demand in a statement issued on Sunday. He said Kanu’s arrest and return to Nigeria in 2021 amounted to “abduction,” not extradition, and condemned what he termed a “shameful abuse of justice.”
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu should not be in detention for one more day. He was abducted, not extradited. The law is clear — when a man is taken illegally from another country, no court in Nigeria has any right to try him,” he said.
Fr. Odimmegwa alleged that Kanu was charged under a repealed legislation, the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, which he said made the case legally untenable.
“He was charged under a dead law. The Court of Appeal discharged him, yet the DSS keeps him locked up in total disregard for that ruling,” he said. “The Supreme Court has abandoned its own principle of finality just to keep him trapped.”
The cleric added that Kanu’s rendition from Kenya constituted a “criminal abduction” and a “gross violation of international law,” warning that such disregard for judicial rulings undermines confidence in Nigeria’s justice system.
“No valid charge exists. Fair hearing denied. Double jeopardy breached. The Supreme Court failed its own doctrine. International law is on his side,” the statement said.
Fr. Odimmegwa stressed that the call for Kanu’s release was a demand for justice, not an appeal for sympathy.
“We are not asking for favours — we are demanding justice under the law. If one man’s rights can be trampled, no one is safe. A nation cannot claim to uphold democracy while it jails people in defiance of its own courts,” he stated.
