Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu says he is disappointed in Barr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, for criticising his visit to detained Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Recall that the former Abia governor had taken to Facebook on Monday to disclose that he visited Kalu in the custody of the DSS.
Ejiofor, who is one of Kanu’s lead counsels, on Tuesday berated the Department of State Services (DSS) for granting Orji Kalu private access to the detained IPOB leader.
The lawyer said the visit was “bizarre and unusual”, adding that it constituted gross violation of the court-ordered guideline for visitation.
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In a statement he personally signed, Kalu said, “It has come to my notice, the statement issued by one of the counsels to Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, in which I am very disappointed in him. He rightly acknowledged that I was scheduled to visit his client and at the same time, claimed that I violated the guidelines stipulated for visiting his client. According to him, he was supposed to be present at the 2pm meeting on Monday.
“Several people, including Barrister Ejiofor, have tried to misinterpret and misinform the public about my visit to my brother, Nnamdi. I also read a report stating that I took pictures with Nnamdi and also tweeted same on my Twitter account.
“For the records, the Department of State Services (DSS) did not break any protocol during my visit as I fulfilled all the requirements expected of me before I saw Nnamdi. The DSS affirmed that I cannot see Nnamdi without the application of his lawyers which I diligently did.
Probably, Barrister Ejiofor may have expected me to arrive at 4pm for a scheduled 2pm visit. What many people refer to as “African time” is not my style. I strictly keep to time and it is a discipline I have upheld since my childhood. I arrived the DSS headquarters at 1:50 PM; went through the necessary protocols and met Nnamdi at 2:17 PM. I stayed with him until 2: 57 PM. Even though he asked that I stayed longer but I had to leave because of other engagements.
“During my visit to Nnamdi, I did not even take my mobile phone along and no photograph was taken. The photograph people are circulating was the one I took with him when I visited him at the Nigerian Correctional Service Medial Security Custodial Centre, Kuje in 2016 and later, his parents in 2017. My Twitter account has also been inactive.
“I don’t also know if Barrister Ejiofor is aware that Nnamdi is not under compulsion to see anyone. If he didn’t want to see me, he could have as well declined, but he was glad to see me and also expressed deep appreciations.
Orji Kalu said that Ejiofor’s anger seemed to be borne out of vexation of not being around to listen to his conversations with Kanu.
“He sounds like someone who is a beneficiary of the crisis. People like him may not see the economic damage the Southeast is experiencing because of the weekly sit-at-home. He does not understand that people can protest in peace without disrupting economic activities and going violent. He does not understand that there are people whose livelihood solely depends on daily hustle. If you have people’s interest at heart, you should as well consider their security, economic prosperity and peaceful livelihood.”
Orji Kalu called on Ejiofor to be “patriotic, rise above primordial and pecuniary interest and put the interest of the people of the Southeast and the country first”.