Follow due process in Kanu’s trial, Wike tells FG

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has advised the federal government to ensure that the rule of law and due process are followed in the prosecution of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

He said effort must be made by the federal government to allay the fear of some Nigerians that Kanu was not being prosecuted because he came from a particular section of the country.

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Governor Wike, who gave the advice during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, said due process must be followed in his prosecution irrespective of the differences the arrested IPOB leader had with the Rivers State Government.

He said the same dragnet deployed to arrest Kanu must as a matter of urgency be extended to bandits and Miyetti Allah militias terrorising the country for the federal government to demonstrate its resolve to address insecurity.

Gov Wike said, “We must not make hullabaloo about the prosecution of Nnamdi Kanu. I don’t agree with his principle. I have come out and said you (Kanu) cannot annex my state to be your own. But that does not mean that you will not allow the law to take its course.”

The governor insisted that government must arrest every wanted terrorist on its watch list and ensure that they were brought to book to face the full wrath of the law.

He said, “You cannot afford to discriminate at this point. You cannot say because Nnamdi Kanu is from a particular area, let us prosecute him. The same thing must apply to all other people, the bandits, Miyetti Allah.”

Responding to a question on PDP’s decision to proceed to court against Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle to vacate his position following his defection to APC, Governor Wike said the PDP would be justified if that happened since it was the party that got the judgment that ushered him (Matawalle) into office.