A lawyer, Christopher Chidera, has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over what he described as its silence on the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Chidera made the allegation in an open letter addressed to the NBA leadership and copied to the International Bar Association.
He questioned the legality of the stay of execution reportedly obtained eight days after the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu and quashed the charges against him in October 2022.
According to him, the development amounted to an extraordinary use of civil procedure in a criminal matter involving the liberty of a citizen.
“Liberty is not a debt. A criminal discharge is not a monetary decree. A human being is not an executable asset,” he said.
The lawyer also questioned Kanu’s continued detention after the appellate judgment, noting that the IPOB leader had already spent about 14 months in detention without charge following his extraordinary rendition to Nigeria.
Chidera further challenged the judicial relief allegedly granted to the government despite contempt proceedings over Kanu’s continued detention.
Citing the Supreme Court decision in Lawal-Osula v. Lawal-Osula (1995), he argued that a party disobeying a subsisting court order should not benefit from discretionary relief while the disobedience continues.
He consequently challenged the NBA to identify the legal authority that permitted the government, allegedly acting in contempt of an appellate order, to obtain relief capable of suspending the judgment.
The lawyer also invoked the doctrine of functus officio, arguing that after the Court of Appeal had determined Kanu’s criminal appeal by quashing the charges and discharging him, questions arose over whether civil procedure could subsequently be used to suspend the effect of the judgment.
Chidera said the issues involved more than legal technicalities, describing them as fundamental questions concerning jurisdiction, liberty, contempt and the integrity of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
He accused the NBA of abandoning the activist tradition associated with the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi and becoming more focused on access and proximity to power.
“The watchdog has become a lapdog,” he declared.
Chidera stressed that his position was not about whether lawyers supported Kanu but whether the law was being applied equally to all citizens.
He said subsequent parts of his open letter would examine the Supreme Court’s remittal of Kanu’s case for continuation after the Court of Appeal had quashed the charges and discharged him, including possible implications for constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
He also said another part would address alleged reliance on the repealed Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 and the constitutional requirement that criminal offences and penalties must be founded on written law.
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