Emmanuel Thomas l Wednesday, October 09, 2025
ABUJA, Nigeria – Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized the Federal Government over the prolonged detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, despite multiple court orders for his release.
Atiku labeled the situation a “stain on our belief in the rule of law” and an “open sore on our nation’s conscience.”
In a direct and unequivocal statement on Thursday, the former Vice President asserted that the continued defiance of judicial pronouncements granting Kanu bail constitutes an “abuse of power and an assault on justice.”
”The continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains an open sore on our nation’s conscience and a stain on our belief in the rule of law,” Atiku stated. “Defying court orders that granted him bail is an abuse of power and an assault on justice.”
Support for Sowore-led Campaign
Lending his influential voice to the growing calls for Kanu’s freedom, Atiku threw his full weight behind the campaign spearheaded by activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore.
”I, therefore, lend my voice in full support of the campaign led by @YeleSowore for his immediate release or due prosecution,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain declared.
Call for National Healing
Atiku framed the Kanu issue as a critical test of national commitment to justice and healing, urging the government to act decisively to resolve the matter. He warned that allowing the case to “fester” would be a failure of patriotism.
”We fail as patriots if we allow Kanu’s case to fester as yet another wound this nation refuses to heal,” he concluded.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been in detention since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya in 2021.
Despite various rulings from Nigerian courts and the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice ordering his release and payment of damages, the Federal Government has continued to hold him, citing national security concerns and pending appeals.
Atiku Abubakar’s intervention now adds a significant political dimension to the persistent legal and human rights debates surrounding Kanu’s incarceration.
