Kanu’s U.S. Lawyer, Bruce Fein, Faults Court’s Dismissal of No-Case Submission

United States-based counsel to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Bruce Fein, has condemned the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja that dismissed Kanu’s no-case submission.

In a letter addressed to Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and made available to journalists on Wednesday, Fein argued that the court’s decision violated established legal and moral principles, particularly given previous international findings on Kanu’s arrest and extraordinary rendition.

“No government should profit from its own criminality. That has been binding law from time immemorial,” Fein wrote.

Citing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis in Olmstead v. United States (1928), Fein reminded that, “In a government of laws, the existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our Government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law. It invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”

Fein insisted that the Nigerian government breached international norms in the manner Kanu was brought before the court, referencing the 2022 opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which, according to him, ordered Kanu’s “immediate and unconditional release.”

He maintained that acts such as extraordinary rendition, as alleged in Kanu’s case, should strip the court of jurisdiction to proceed with the trial. “These are universal crimes under international law binding on Nigeria with or without its consent,” he stated.

“They oust Nigerian courts of jurisdiction to prosecute Mr. Kanu to prevent the Government of Nigeria from profiting from its own actions,” Fein further wrote.

The U.S.-based lawyer urged Justice Omotosho to dismiss all charges against Kanu, warning that failure to do so could raise doubts about the court’s commitment to justice.

“If you refrain from dismissing all outstanding charges against Mr. Kanu for lack of jurisdiction, you will have been unfaithful to your professional duty to see that justice is done,” Fein cautioned.

Earlier this month, however, Justice Omotosho ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Kanu, warranting him to enter his defence.

The court held that the prosecution’s evidence could not be dismissed at a preliminary stage since it raised substantial issues to be addressed at the full trial. Consequently, Justice Omotosho dismissed the no-case submission filed by Kanu’s legal team, directing that the matter proceed to the defence stage.

Fein, serving as Kanu’s international counsel, reiterated in his letter that “justice is the end of government” and that “nothing is more unjust than a government profiting from its own wrong.”