Ugochukwu Eke.
The family of the Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), who has been missing since September last year, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has frowned at the Swiss embassy in Abuja behavior for allegedly denying visa to some family members.
It could be recalled that the family and the IPOB members were invited by the United Nations to the 116th United Nations Human Rights Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances following their petition against human rights violation.
Spokesman of the family, Prince Emmanuel Kanu said in a press statement that the family members were invited by UN as key witnesses of the mass murder committed by the security operatives when the family compound was invaded during the 2017 Operation Python Dance ll.
The younger Kanu regretted that instead of granting visas to the invitees the Swiss embassy in Abuja turned down their visa application, without any reasons for their behavior.
Kanu wondered why the Swiss embassy would constitute itself an impediment to the family’s bid to get justice over the unprovoked invasion of the family house and disappeance of their beloved ones including their parents, HRM Eze Israel Kanu, the royal father of Afaraukwu community and his wife, Ugoeze Sally Kanu.
He accused the embassy of conspiracy, collusion and unholy dealings with the federal government to frustrate the family and help the Nigerian state escape punishment with their refusing to give them visas.
Kanu also said that apart from the family members, key IPOB members who witnessed the genocide at Afaraukwu were also denied visas, stressing that they refusal has made it difficult to appear before the UN to state their own side of the incident.
He said that some Amazonians fleeing persecutions in Cameroun were equally denied visa by the Swiss embassy who he accused of colluding with oppressive administrations to suppress freedom fighters.
His words, “Some of our family members who were invited by this same United Nations could not understand why they should be denied visas when they had been duly invited by the world body”.
“Some Ambazonians who fled Cameroun to Nigeria who were also invited to the United nations by this same working group were also denied visas, this shows that something fishy is going on at that embassy”.
“The reason for the invitation is to state categorically as eye withnesses to the United Nations on what happened on the 14th of September 2017 when the Nigerian Army illegally invaded the home of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ,the ipob leader .
“For the fact that you house the world body does not give you the right to deny victims and key eyewitness of torture and genocide visas even when the same world body invites them”.
The family therefore appealed to the UN as well as the United States of America and other human rights promoting nations to prevail on the Swiss Government to do the needful, saying it amounts to crime against humanity to deny justice to the innocent.
