BEVERLY HILLS, September 30, (THEWILL) – One of Nnamdi Kanu’s sureties and senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, says he cannot be held liable should the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB leader fail to show up in court on October 17 for continuation of his trial for alleged treasonable offences.
Aside Abaribe, the two other sureties in the bail granted Kanu in April, are a Jewish priest, Immanuel Shalom, and an Abuja-based accountant, Tochukwu Uchendu.
Kanu, who is currently facing trial for alleged treason, was last seen on September 14 when a clash occurred at his hometown between members of his now-proscribed group and Nigerian soldiers who were on Operation Python Dance II in Abia State.
Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had filed an application at the Federal High Court, Abuja, wherein he asked the court to compel the Nigerian Army to produce his client in court.
But the Defence Headquarters on Friday said it had no knowledge of his whereabouts, insisting that neither the military nor any security agency can be held responsible for the missing IPOB leader.
Speaking earlier when he featured on ARISE News, Abaribe stated that the disappearance of the IPOB leader followed the invasion of his home in Abia State by troops of the Nigerian Army.
He stated that the army breached the deal they (sureties) had with the federal government by invading Kanu’s home before the court date, adding that no one could say whether the IPOB leader is dead or alive following the invasion.
According to him, “He was supposed to appear in court on October 17. It was our job as sureties to produce him in court. We have been speaking with him.
“I spoke with him around August 23. I had to invite him to a meeting with the South-east Senate caucus in my home at Obingwa in Abia.
“We discussed and we told him what we felt and where he was going out of bound and we told him to confine himself to the laws of the land.
“Now, I spoke to him on September 14, and it was same day that the military moved into his place.”
The senator said he had not been able to speak with Kanu since the incident at his home, because the number he used to reach the IPOB leader had been switched off.
Stressing that nobody presently
knows the whereabouts of the IPOB leader, he asked, “The real question is why will you go one month before his appearance in court to effect an arrest, to kill him or whatever?
“So we felt that you cannot hold me responsible if you didn’t wait for the date he was supposed to be in court,” the senator said.
