Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has disclosed why the Biafra agitator was not arrested by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In his opinion, Jonathan did not arrest Kanu because he never saw his self-determination as a crime.
Information Nigeria reports that Kanu was first arrested in 2015 for charges bordering on treason, terrorism, and managing an unlawful society.
Following his arrest, he was dragged to court, but was granted bail in 2017 by Justice Binta Nyako of an Abuja Federal High Court.
The IPOB Leader, subsequently fled Nigeria to Europe, but was rearrested in Kenya in 2021.
READ ALSO: IPOB Slams UN, EU, AU, ECOWAS On Silence Over Nnamdi Kanu’s Continued Detention
He was repatriated to Nigeria and had since been locked up by the Department of State Services while his trial continues.
However, speaking at the ‘Free Nnamdi Kanu’ conference in Washington, Ejimakor said: “The rights to self-determination is a right that is allowed internationally, domestically, and continentally.
“The formation of IPOB did not break any law of the United Kingdom or that of Nigeria.
“Nnamdi Kanu was not arrested between 2012 and 2015 because the government then understood that self-determination was not a crime.
“But the government that came into power in May 2015 decided to treat self-determination as a criminal activity.
“So, he was arrested in Lagos and charged for treason, illegal importation, and insulting the president.”