By Caroline Ameh
United States-based lawyer, Bruce Fein, to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has criticised the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja which dismissed the no-case submission filed by the IPOB leader.
In a letter addressed to Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and made available to journalists on Wednesday, Fein argued that the court’s decision contradicted established legal and moral principles, especially in light of previous findings by international bodies concerning the circumstances of Kanu’s arrest and rendition.
“No government should profit from its own criminality. That has been binding law from time immemorial,” Fein wrote.
He quoted the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis in Olmstead v. United States (1928) saying, “In a government of laws, the existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously.
“Our Government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law. It invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy,” Fein quoted the justice as saying.
Fein maintained that the Federal Government of Nigeria had violated international norms in the process that led to Kanu’s appearance before the court.
He further referenced the 2022 opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which, according to him, directed the “immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Kanu.”
He argued that acts such as extraordinary rendition, as alleged in Kanu’s case, should have deprived the court of jurisdiction to continue the trial. “These are universal crimes under international law binding on Nigeria with or without its consent,” hedaid.
“They oust Nigerian courts of jurisdiction to prosecute Mr. Kanu to prevent the Government of Nigeria from profiting from its own actions,” he wrote.
Fein urged Justice Omotosho to dismiss the charges against Kanu, warning that failure to do so could raise questions about the court’s adherence to the principles of justice.
He said, “If you refrain from dismissing all outstanding charges against Mr. Kanu for lack of jurisdiction, you will have been unfaithful to your professional duty to see that justice is done,” he said.
However, in his ruling earlier this month, Justice Omotosho held that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Kanu, sufficient to warrant him entering his defence.
The court ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution could not be dismissed at the preliminary stage, as it raised issues that should be properly addressed during the full trial.
Justice Omotosho therefore dismissed the no-case submission filed by Kanu’s legal team, holding that the matter should proceed to defence.
Fein, who serves as Kanu’s international counsel, however emphasised in his letter that “justice is the end of government” and that “nothing is more unjust than a government profiting from its own wrong.”
