Bruce Fein, the United States lawyer to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has berated the top three presidential candidates in Nigeria for not promising to release the IPOB leader if voted.
Fein described as an act of lawlessness the continued detention of Kanu by the Nigerian government.
The lawyer Fein wondered why Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Obi of the Labour Party (LP) were not pledging compliance to the directive of the UN Working Group.
He also rejected Governor Charles Soludo’s request for the Nigerian government to take him on surety for the release of Kanu.
In a message via his Twitter hand page said that anyone who was accepting to take custody of Kanu from the Department of State Service (DSS) was illegally aiding and abetting a violation of the United Nations Working Group’s decision which directed that Kanu be released unconditionally.
Kanu’s case according to him was international and strict compliance with the UN Working Group was, for him, the only option, adding that arbitrary detention of Kanu was “jus cogens norm of international law binding on all nations.”
“The UN Working Group’s finding that Kanu was being arbitrarily detained in violation of 16 human rights covenants binds Nigeria.
“Anybody accepting custody of MNK (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) from DSS illegally aids and abets a violation of the UN Working Group’s definitive decision directing his immediate unconditional release. MNK’s case is international.
“Strict compliance with the Working Group through me is the only option.
“Arbitrary detention is a jus cogens norm of international law binding on all nations. The UN Working Group’s finding that MNK is being arbitrarily detained in violation of 16 human rights covenants binds Nigeria.
“Why are Atiku, Tinubu, and Obi not pledging compliance? Lawless?” Fein asked.