Abaribe Regains Freedom

Kanu’s surety asks court to order IPOB
Nseobong Okon-Ekong in Lagos and Deji Elumoye in Abuja
The Chairman of the South-east Caucus in the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, regained his freedom yesterday after spending six days in the custody of the Department of State Security (DSS), in Abuja.

This is coming as the Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Binta Nyako has deferred hearing to November 14 in an application brought by Tochukwu Unchendu, one of the sureties to the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, seeking among other prayers, an order directing the Nigerian Police to arrest and produce Kanu before the court and a suspension of his obligation on the bond until the whereabouts of Kanu is established.

Abaribe breathed the air of freedom at about 6.37p.m. when he left the premises of the DSS in Abuja in the company of his lawyer, Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Ume in a two- paragraph statement he issued on behalf of Abaribe shortly after his client’s release stated that “ at this 6.37pm I am excited to inform you that I am leaving the gate of SSS Head Office with Senator Abaribe”.
He thanked the wonderful people of Nigeria for their pronounced concerns and demand for the immediate release of Abaribe.

“Nigerians in unison showed that suppression of political opponents is frontal attack on our democracy. Though worn out, yet Senator Abaribe has asked me to extend his gratitude to all Nigerians”, the statement added

In a related development, one of Kanu’s sureties, Uchendu, has asked a Federal High Court for an order directing the Nigerian Police to arrest and produce Kanu before the court and a suspension of his obligation on the bond until the whereabouts of Kanu is established.
Uchendu, a chartered accountant and two others- Abaribe and Emmanuel Shallom Ben, a Jewish High Priest-stood surety for Kanu when the court granted him bail on April 25, 2017.

Each surety signed a N100 million bond for the bail granted the IPOB chieftain.
The court had ordered Abaribe, and two others to produce Kanu, in court on June 26.
Kanu, who has pending charges of treasonable felony against him before the court, has not been seen since September 22, 2017.
Kanu’s lawyers and family declared him missing after soldiers allegedly invaded his home in Isiama Afaraukwu, Abia State during a military operation by the Nigerian Army to contain the activities of IPOB.

Counsel to Uchendu, Mr. Frank Ike Chude, who made a 32-point deposition to support his application, said that due to Kanu’s persistent absence from court, some of the issues for determination include, whether a supervising occurrence does not discharge and/or suspend the applicant’s obligation to produce Kanu for whom he stood surety.
Chude said it had become obvious that some of the sureties are gaining political capital from the case.
“My client is a professional and not a politician. He offered to stand surety for Kanu purely on humanitarian grounds. It is now clear that some people are seeking popularity with this case,” he added.