Kanu’s Lawyer Ejimakor Urges Tinubu to Release Detained Igbo Youths Without Trial, Cites Discrimination

ABUJA— Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has called on the Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu to order the unconditional release of “thousands of Igbo youths” he said are detained across Nigeria without trial.

In a widely circulated post on his official X handle, Ejimakor wrote:
_“All people of good conscience should urge President Tinubu to direct the unconditional release of the thousands of IGBO youths detained without trial across Nigeria on the mere suspicion that they’re IPOB. They’re far more deserving of freedom than the so-called repentant terrorists. Continuing their detention raises credible suspicion of discrimination based on their Igbo ethnicity which is unconstitutional & immoral.”_

The reference to “so-called repentant terrorists” relates to the Federal Government’s Deradicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) program for former Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters under Operation Safe Corridor. Ejimakor has previously criticised the program.

He argued that continued detention of Igbo youths on suspicion of IPOB affiliation, without trial, raises “credible suspicion of discrimination based on their Igbo ethnicity,” which he described as unconstitutional.

Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of ethnic group, among other factors. Section 35(1) guarantees the right to personal liberty and provides that persons arrested must be brought before a court within a reasonable time.

The Presidency and the Office of the National Security Adviser have not responded to the statement as of press time.