Aloy Ejimakor, the legal counsel for the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has revealed their next action against the Department of State Service (DSS).
Naija News reports that the DSS had refused Nnamdi Kanu’s team of lawyers from seeing the pro-Biafra agitator despite Justice Binta Nyako directing the secret police to grant his counsel access to him.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, Ejimakor revealed that Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team has filed a Form 48.
He said: “Well, a Form 48 was filed. It is a Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court Order. That was filed on Friday by my colleague, Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor. That was supposed to warn the DSS of the consequences of disobeying the order on visitation with Mazi Kanu.
“When someone disobeys a court order, you file a Form 48 to let him know there are consequences. So, by Monday, we are going to make another go at visiting Mazi Kanu, based on the tenor of the same order.
“Well, it can be very frustrating not being able to commune with your client. It complicates his defence and it strains constitutionality. This Form 48, as I mentioned earlier, is to tell them the consequences of their disobedience to this order. So, it’s a warning. It tells the person violating the order he could be held in contempt. The registrar of the court issues the Form.
“If that does not bring them to obedience, the next step is a Form 49 which is to show cause why they could not be committed to prison for disobeying the order. If they disregard a Form 49, it will pitch the Court against them. But in reality, it’s very tough for the courts to bring the DSS to answer for contempt. Even recent history bears that out. That’s the sad truth.”
On whether the British High Commission is doing enough to help the IPOB leader, Ejimakor asserted that Nigerian authorities may be frustrating the British Consulate.
He stated that the federal government’s display of stubbornness in obeying the law and following human rights procedures may lead to diplomatic fracture between both nations.
Ejimakor said: “I cannot really say for certain that the British High Commission is not doing enough in helping Nnamdi Kanu. It’s like saying the lawyers are not doing enough. You can see the frustration we are passing through as lawyers. It’s illustrative that there are frustrations other interested parties might also be passing through that they are not talking about because of some diplomatic niceties.
“But one thing I can tell you is that in the end, British power and outrage will prevail. Britain does not have a reputation of abandoning its citizens in distress. What we are looking at is most probably patient diplomacy that will as soon come to maturation and produce results.
“I hope the intransigence of the Nigerian government will not push the British to resort to similar measures taken over the Umaru Dikko attempted extraordinary rendition in 1984, where people went to jail and diplomatic relations soured for two years.
“Still, I’m profoundly concerned that the urgency Kanu’s matter demands won’t be submerged under some complex foreign relations issues no one knows about. In the interim, what his situation immediately demands from the British is what is called ‘Consular Assistance’, geared to basically his welfare and a sense of appreciation of the raw illegality that saw him brought to Nigeria. As a citizen in good standing, he deserves that much, plus more.”
This article was originally published on Nigeria News