Some prominent lawyers in Onitsha, Anambra State, have disagreed on the legality or otherwise for the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to appear in court on October 17. While some contended that his appearance would determined his whereabouts, others stated that he had been kidnapped to be tried on October 17 by the Federal Government.
They argued that one cannot expect to see Kanu in court on that day when it was not yet established whether he was still alive or not or whether he was arrested by the military during the invasion of his (Kanu) home in Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia.
The lawyers, Samuel Chukwukelu, Ben Okoko and Maurice Efobi, who spoke to journalists yesterday in Onitsha, on the sidelines of the October 17 hearing date in the suit filed against him by the Federal Government, said it was also only the living that can go or be summoned to court to face either criminal or civil trial and not the dead. According to Chukwukelu, who the incumbent chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Idemili branch; “The issue to be determined at this point is whether Kanu is dead or alive.
People heard last from Kanu during the invasion of his home by the military and it is understandable fact that a lot of people were reported dead in the circumstance, while others were reported to have sustained grievous injuries, just as others were either arrested or declared missing.”