The parents of detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Eze Israel and Lolo Ugoeze Sally Kanu have rejected the bail terms given their son by the Federal High Court, Abuja, describing the hurdles as needless.
Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako Tuesday granted the junior Kanu a reprieve in the sum of N100 million and three sureties with like sum each. The judge added that one of them must be a highly respected Jewish leader since he claimed Judaism as religion.
Also, another must be a senior and respected individual of Igbo extraction in the ranking of a senator while the third must be a revered citizen resident in Abuja with a proof of ownership of landed property.
But the senior Kanu, who is also the traditional ruler of Isiama Afaraukwu community in Umuahia North Local Council of Abia State, told reporters in the state capital that the bail was akin to giving something with one hand and taking it back with the other.
He, therefore, asked for the unconditional release of his son, while his wife, Lolo Ugoeze hinted that upon his return, Kanu would not be advised to drop the agitation.
“The Federal Government should release our son unconditionally. The world should judge if the bail conditions granted by Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako are proper,” the senior Kanus said.
In the same vein, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo expressed reservations over the development, saying it would challenge the bail terms.
Its president-general, Chief John Nnia Nwodo (Jnr) told reporters that “the conditions are unconstitutional, inhuman and gagging. It is a plot to deny Kanu his fundamental human rights of freedom of speech and association. It is unacceptable to us. It is a trap by government to re-arrest him soon.
“It is a pyrrhic victory that deserves no celebration. If the conditions are not reversed, Ohanaeze will challenge them in court. Kanu deserves unconditional bail, because he has not committed any non-bailable offence.”
The National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Ralph Nwosu, said government deliberately escalated the case because the young man has the fundamental rights to agitate.
He warned the judiciary against being manipulated, saying: “Nigeria is no longer under military rule.”
Similarly, a pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation (NGO), Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), asked government to terminate the trial, faulting the judge for giving what it termed “seemingly unconstitutional demands” as bail conditions.
In a statement jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, they wondered why the court on one hand could grant bail on health grounds but on the other, imposed “seemingly unattainable and unconstitutional conditions for enjoying the bail.”
The right group charged President Muhammadu Buhari to release unconditionally all political detainees.
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