NDC fumes, urges caution over Nnamdi Kanu’s trial

The Niger Delta Congress (NDC) has urged the ongoing trial of arrested leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, be given fair hearing while his trial lasted.

NDC’s acting spokesman Barr  Ovunda C.  Eni, in a statement issued, on Wednesday, made available to The Nigerian Xpress Online, said that it received the news of Kanu’s rearrested with “mixed  feelings.”

The statement read, “The  Niger  Delta  Congress  has  received  the  news  of  the  arrest  of  the  leader  of  the  Indigenous People  of  Biafra  (IPOB)  with  mixed  feelings.

READ ALSO: https://www.thexpressng.com/2021/06/30/initiate-transmit-restructuring-bill-to-nass-afenifere-tells-buhari/

“We  most  importantly  take  note  of  the  time  and  resources  that  have  been  expended  to  arrest and  extradite  Nnamdi  Kanu  who  was  miles  away  from  Nigeria;  this  is  while  Islamic  terror groups  are  freely  attacking  military  and  civilian  targets,  having  large  open  air  meetings,  and forming  terror  pacts  against  the  rest  of  the  country  within  the  boundaries  of  Nigeria    —  with even  more  freedom  than  so-called  free  citizens  can  boast  of  in  sections  of  this  country.

“It  begs  the  question  of  why  the  people  of  Southern  Nigeria  are  always  the  target  when important  socio-political  conversations  are  brought  up,  in  a  bid  to  muddy  the  waters  of  the discourse. “We  remember  vividly  similar  treatment  meted  out  to  Obafemi  Awolowo immediately  after  independence,  and  to  Ken  Saro-Wiwa,  which  eventually  led  to  his extrajudicial  murder  by  the  government  in  1995.

“We  would  like  to  reiterate  that  human  beings  have  basic  rights,  such  as  the  right  to  fair hearing,  and  the  right  to  self determination  which  even  the  Niger  Delta  peoples  are  currently considering  and  consulting  over.

READ ALSO: https://www.thexpressng.com/2021/06/30/senate-considers-bill-to-disrupt-illicit-funding-for-criminals-terrorists-in-nigeria/

“While  the  Niger  Delta  Congress  may  not  agree  in  totality  with  the  methods  or  approach  of  the IPOB,  the  NDC  advises  that  the  Nigerian  government  should,  for  its  own  good,  ensure  that  the judicial  processes  the  leader  of  the  “IPOB  will  be  made  to  pass  through  are  free  of  the  ethno-religious  bigotry  that  has  plagued  this  government  even  before  it  took  office  in  2015.

“The  Niger  Delta  Congress  stands  with  all  oppressed  groups  within  and  without  the  Nigerian federation  and  will  be  following  the  situation  keenly.