Mbazulike Amaechi has visited Nnamdi Kanu in DSS custody over IPOB.
Two weeks after he led some Igbo leader to meet with President Muhamadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, a First Republic lawmaker, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, has visited the leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
As reported by The Nation, the former Minister of Aviation was said to have visited Kanu in company of the co-Chairman of the Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace, Bishop Sunday Onuoha.
Kanu’s brother, Kanunta Kanu disclosed this via his Twitter handle.
His words: “Chief Mbazuruike Amechi and His Grace, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, visited their son #MaziNnamdiKanu the leader of IPOB at #DSS Headquarters in Abuja today, where they had a meaningful interaction,”
The 92-year-old last month led some Igbo elders including former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife to the Presidential Villa, where they met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, National Security Adviser to the President, Babagana Monguno, Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, also attended the meeting.
Speaking on behalf of the elders, Amaechi had urged the president to release Kanu to him but Buhari promised to consider their request.
Chief Mbazulike Amechi recently stated that Igbo leaders’ discussion with President Buhari was targeted at finding lasting peace within the South-East geopolitical zone of the country
How Orji Kalu dribbled Kanu’s lawyers – Ejiofor
Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lead counsel of IPOB, in a statement on Saturday , claimed that the operatives of the Director of Security Services, DSS, kept back the agitators’ lawyers from seeing the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu only for Orji Uzor Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, to have suspected private meeting with Kalu.
According to him:”On or about 11 am on the 29th of November, 2021, I received a phone call from a reliable source. The latter informed me that a certain Orji Uzor Kalu expressed a desire to see my client, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“The intended visit was ostensibly in further pursuit of the political solution to the unconditional release of my client. As I had before then resolved not to constitute myself an impediment to the exploration of any such political solution, I welcomed the idea.
“Consequently, I was constrained to substitute the name of one of the persons already scheduled for the visit for the name of Orji Uzor Kalu. I then proceeded to submit a fresh list containing the name of the latter to the relevant authorities on or about noon of the aforementioned date.
“When the team of lawyers who were scheduled to visit my client arrived at the Reception Hall of the headquarters of the Department of State Security, DSS, on or about 1.55 pm of the aforementioned date, they were informed that Orji Uzor Kalu, whose name appeared on the list at the 11th hour, would not be allowed to see Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“The reason for this decision was clear. As the name of Orji Uzor Kalu was merely submitted on the day of the intended visit, and not earlier as was the practice, he could not, without permission and or clearance from superior authority, be granted access to visit my client in the detention facility of the DSS.
“Orji Kalu’s hypocritical pretensions was worsened by the fact that he is a politician(and a wily one at that) and is not related to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu either by affinity or consanguinity.This position taken by the Detaining Authority did not come as a surprise. So I thought.”
He further said “Long before the 29th of November, 2021, it consistently and variously denied certain persons of sundry political persuasions, and proven elder statesmen, access to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in DSS custody. A case in point is that of Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Governor of Anambra State.
The inclusion of the name of Orji Uzor Kalu at the 11th hour in the fresh list submitted to the DSS on the day of the intended visit had the effect of temporarily stultifying the access operatives of the DSS could easily have afforded the lawyers.
“So I thought honestly. But there was more to it. The lawyers were kept waiting till on or about 3.20 pm of that day when they were finally cleared to ingress the detention facility. At first, I thought this delay to be inexplicable and unreasonable, but, with hindsight, I concluded that the delay was deliberate.
“It was occasioned by the fact that Orji Uzor Kalu had earlier arrived at the DSS facility and had gone to visit Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu at the time the lawyers were forced to wait for a pretended reason.
“I then became convinced that the objection that was taken at the inclusion of the name of Orji Uzor Kalu at the 11th hour in the list of persons scheduled for the visit was a ruse, a smokescreen, and a deceptive ploy, ingeniously but mischievously contrived to hoodwink us. It had that temporary effect.”
“The pretended reason was designed to keep us waiting while Orji Uzor Kalu had his interaction with Onyendu. The delay of about two hours was unjustified. Orji Uzor Kalu, whose name was on the list of visitors that were submitted and whose name was deceptively objected to by operatives of the DSS, had earlier arrived at the DSS facility and had, in an extremely surreptitious manner, gained access to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in custody! Lawyers that congregated for the visit started with open mouths when they gained access to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and were informed by him that Orji Uzor Kalu had earlier visited him that day.”
IPOB to Kalu: We’ll you responsible if anything happens to Kanu
Members of the group have vowed to Kalu responsible for whatever happens to its leader Nnamdi Kanu in detention.
The Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, in a statement said it was not comfortable with Kalu’s recent visit to Nnamdi Kanu at the DSS custody
The statement read: “We the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU is raising alarm over the unsolicited visit of Orji Uzor Kalu to our leader wherever he is detained.
“We don’t know the mission of Orji Uzor Kalu over the visits and we are worried. We, therefore, wish to put the world on notice that Orji Uzor Kalu will be held responsible for whatever happens to our leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU in detention.
“We are not comfortable with Orji Uzor Kalu’s suspicious visits to our leader. We don’t know whose interest he protects. We will also hold responsible, those who permitted him to see our leader in detention.
“The DSS allowed him access against a court order which all visitors including Kanu’s lawyers comply with. We all knew that Orji Uzor Kalu’s name is among those who bankrolled and sponsored the extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria.”
Eyo Nse is a creative writer, blogger and a software engineer.
He is a simple individual who loves to see others succeed in life.
Mr Wisdytech as he is popularly known - started blogging in the early 2000's.
