The United States-based Special Counsel to the Leader of
the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi
Nnamdi Kanu, Bruce Fein, has petitioned the US Senate and House of
Representatives Committee Chairmen, seeking sanctions against President
Muhammadu Buhari; and the Attorney General of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami.
Tdpnewng.com gathered that Fein is seeking sanction
for the duo for the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu despite
an Appeal Court judgment ordering the release of the IPOB leader.
The
letter was captioned: “RE: Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act:
Recommending President Joe Biden to impose sanctions against Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian Attorney General Abubakar Malami for gross
violations of internationally recognized human rights against Biafran leader
Nnamdi Kanu, including kidnapping, torture, and prolonged arbitrary detention
to retaliate for exercising internationally recognized rights to freedom of
expression and association.”
The
IPOB leader’s lawyer asked the legislature to prevail on US President Joe Biden
to impose severe sanctions on Buhari and Malami for flouting both the United
Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion and
the Nigerian appeal court judgment ordering the immediate release of Kanu.
While
likening Buhari and Malami to Russian President Vladimir Putin; Chinese President
Xi Jinping; and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, the lawyer
urged Congress not to allow them to get away with their rascality and lawlessness.
He
addressed the letter to Robert Menendez, Chairman of, the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations; Jim Risch, Ranking Member of, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations;
and Richard Durbin, Senate Committee Chairman on the Judiciary.
Others
are Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member, of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; Pat
Leahy, Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriations, Richard Shelby Ranking
Member, of the Senate Committee on Appropriations; and Honourable Sherrod Brown, House
Committee Chairman on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
The letter was also addressed to Pat Toomey Ranking Member, Senate Committee Chairman on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Gregory Meeks, House Committee Chairman on Foreign Relations, among others.
Below is the full text of the letter:
“I represent Biafran leader Nnamdi Kanu.
“Mr. Kanu has been illegally detained in solitary
confinement in cramped quarters for sixteen (16) months without adequate access
to needed medical care or to counsel by Nigeria’s State Security Services
controlled by President Muhammadu Buhari and Attorney General Abubakar Malami.
“Mr. Kanu’s detention followed his kidnapping,
torture, and extraordinary rendition from Kenya in June 2021 to retaliate for
advocating a Biafran independence referendum modeled on the United States-brokered
2011 referendum for South Sudan. Mr. Kanu opposes the use of force with the
sole exception of self-defense.
“On July 20, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights
Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion finding Nnamdi
Kanu’s detention in violation of sixteen (16) international human rights
guarantees. The Opinion ordered his “immediate and unconditional release,”
Opinion, paragraph 107. (See Attachment A). President Buhari and Attorney
General Malami have ignored the directive for nearly three (3) months with no
indication that compliance will ever be forthcoming.
“In January 2022, following the extraordinary
rendition of Mr. Kanu, a Nigerian High Court judgment impliedly exonerated him
from the Nigerian government’s Orwellian claim that he had jumped bail in
evading its notorious attempted assassination.
“On October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, Abuja Judicial Division, Holden at Abuja, decreed that Nigeria’s detention of Mr. Kanu was illegal because of his extraordinary rendition from Kenya in violation of international and state laws. (See Attachment B). The Court ordered the dismissal of all charges against him. Again, President Buhari and Attorney General Malami have flouted the Court’s orders and kept Nnamdi Kanu illegally detained.
“The Opinions of the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention and the Court of Appeals of Nigeria speak for themselves. They are
crystal clear.
“Accordingly, I would respectfully urge you
individually and collectively to recommend to President Joe Biden that he
impose sanctions against President Buhari and Attorney General Malami for gross
violations of Mr. Kanu’s internationally recognized human rights under the
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 2656 note, The
sanctions should include ineligibility for a visa to enter the United States
and blocking of all transactions in properties of Mr. Buhari and Mr. Malami in
the United States.
“What Nigeria has done to Mr. Kanu is
indistinguishable from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi
Jinping, and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman sending thugs
abroad to poison, murder, torture, silence, and intimidate dissidents to their
dictatorial regimes. They are a threat to international peace and security and
subvert the rule-based international order championed by the United States.
“To permit President Buhari’s and Attorney General
Malami’s thuggery to escape with impunity would be unacceptable.”
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