By Tochukwu Ezukama
Nnamdi Kanu’s protracted legal saga finally came to a conclusive end, at least, temporarily. The judge reached his verdict on the long-running legal drama. He convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. I am not a lawyer. I am therefore unqualified to analyze the legal heft of his crime and the appropriateness of his punishment. However, it is obvious that Kanu is culpable of a number of serious offenses and is deserving of punishment.
For some unfathomable reasons, he dismissed his lawyers and opted to defend himself, which must have been inimical to his case. He is not a lawyer; and neither has the knowledge of law nor the experience of law practice. Further compounding his legal problems, he refused to defend himself on the grounds of some juridical trivialities. With his wild behavior, vulgarity and insolence, he striped the court proceeding of solemnity, turned it into a disturbing spectacle and reduced himself to a vociferous fool.
The Nigerian constitution affirms the inviolability of the Nigeria union. Therefore, any attempt at the dissolution of Nigeria is a crime. On February 23, 1966, an Ijaw, Adaka Boro, declared what is now Rivers and Bayelsa States a new country, the Niger Delta Republic. The Head of State, Aguiyi Ironsi, working in concert with the governor of Eastern Region, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, suppressed his secession, and arrested him and his followers. They were tried and sentenced to death. Therefore, Nigerian history has established an instructive precedence: secessionist agitators are sentenced to life imprisonment and, even death. So, the life sentence handed down to Nnamdi Kanu is not outlandish. .
That Kanu is laden with emotional and psychological baggage is made evident in his arrogance, bumptiousness and megalomania. He enjoys the fantasy that he is the ultimate king of the Igbo and our long awaited messiah, destined to liberate us from the clutches of modern day Pharaonic slave masters in Nigeria. His gullible supporters are sold of his bogus Messianism. They worship him as their Moses and savior. In the giddiness of mass adoration, he encouraged his supporters’ nauseating, obsequious act of falling on their knees and kissing his shoes, which is indicative of a narcissist in a desperate need of psychological evaluation.
He talked about his ability to play God. In one of his video recordings, he said, “I am a very powerful man and I know that. I have more than 2 million loyal men under oath and under my command. I can play God if I want to. I can decide who lives and who does not. I can destroy anywhere I want to have destroyed. I am Nnamdi Kanu.” To encourage the kissing of his shoes by his supporters is disgusting. His talk about playing God is dumbfounding. However, they are merely the repulsive excesses of a vainglorious, loud-mouthed upstart. They are neither illegal nor deserving of punishment.
But then, apart from his narcissism and blustering, Nnamdi Kanu is culpable of serious offenses. He is an unyielding and strident secessionist agitator hell-bent on the dissolution of Nigeria. In many of his videos, he incited his followers to violence, arson and murder. He ordered them to stone his political opponents, for example, the former Ohaneze Chairman, Nina Nwodo, to death; kill those that disobey his sit-at-home orders and burn their places of business; kill Nigerian soldiers and take their guns and kill more of them; attack policemen and burn their stations; etc. Were these not seditious and treasonable?
In addition, he had a private army, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). He must have been referring to his private army, when he talked about, “I have more than 2 million loyal men under oath and under my command.” It is against the law in this country to own a private army. Egged on by his hate-baiting and incendiary rhetoric, his private army degenerated to a murderous posse. They are ravaging Igbo land; leaving pains, death and sorrow in their wake. The ESN was ostensibly set up to fight Fulani terrorism in Igbo land. Ironically, ESN and its affiliate, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and their spinoff criminal groups have killed more Igbo in the South East than the Fulani terrorists.
Their disruptive and blood-drenched activities are literally destroying the South East. It is estimated that in their ruthless enforcements of their different laws, especially, the sit-at-home, they have killed more than one thousand Igbo. Their collective toll on businesses in the geo-political region runs into trillions of naira. In addition to their killings and stifling of businesses in Igbo land, these bloodthirsty marauders are guilty of kidnapping, arson, rape and cannibalism.
In our persecution complex, many Igbo want to believe that Nnamdi Kanu is innocent; and that his incarceration is merely an additional example of the continued evil machination of the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba against the Igbo. However, the words and deeds of Nnamdi Kanu are incontrovertibly criminal and deserving of punishment. To insinuate the contrary is staggering nonsense.
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
tezukanma@gmail.com
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