Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lawyer to the Indigenous People of Biafra leader, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on behalf of his family, has petitioned the United Nations, the European Union and other foreign countries, accusing the Nigerian Army of illegal invasion and looting of valuables from their son’s home in Afaraukwu, Abia State.
He had claimed that the Nigerian Army had no legal backing to have carried out the raid which took place on the 8th of October, stating that there were many pending suits in court yet unresolved.
The petition which was written by the Traditional head of Afaraukwu ibeku, Umuahia, in Abia State, and Kanu’s father, Eze Isreal Okwu -Kanu, also alleged that the IPOB leader might have been killed during the military operation as he had been declared missing since then.
It was alleged in the separate letters sent by Ejiofor to the international bodies and foreign countries that “CCTV footage” attached to the said letters “picked” the alleged looting by a combined team of soldiers and policemen.
The letters read in part, “We are solicitors to the family of His Royal Majesty, Eze Isreal Okwu-Kanu, hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’ and on whose standing instruction we file this communication with the British Government.
“It is our brief, that on the 8th day of October, 2017, our client’s son’s home (Nnamdi Kanu) in Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia, in Abia State was invaded, and violently looted by rampaging Nigerian soldiers and their police counterparts.
“The CCTV footage which picked the horrendous raids, revealed the brazen looting and carting away of valuables and household equipment by the above named security agents.”
The separate letters were addressed to the Resident Representatives of UN and EU, the US Ambassador, the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, the High Commissioner of the British High Commission; and the High Commissioner, the Canadian High Commission.
A copy of the letter sent to the British High Commission, stated that since the invasion of the family home of the Kanus on September 14, 2017, neither a family member nor any lawyer in their legal team “has been able to establish any form of contact with Nnamdi Kanu.”
The letter read in part, “The raid and consequent looting in the home of our client’s son, (a British citizen) by the soldiers and their police counterparts does not enjoy the protection, backing, and legitimacy of any known legislative enactment in Nigeria.
“It is, therefore, likely, that he may have been killed in the well-coordinated bloody onslaught in his home. The attached CCTV footage picked clearly the horrendous activity of these rampaging security personnel in the home of our client.”
The family urged the foreign governments to treat the proscription of IPOB with circumspect, adding that the legality or otherwise of it was already being challenged in court.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen. Sani Usman, has insisted that the army did not raid Kanu’s house as alleged.
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