Biafra: Confusion As US Lawyer Asks Ejiofor To Withdraw From Representing Nnamdi Kanu
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is facing a crisis after his US counsel, Bruce Fein, wrote to one of his frontline lawyers, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, ordering him to stop defending the secessionist leader immediately.
In a letter to Ejiofor that went viral on social media, the US lawyer argued that he [Ejiofor] was ineligible to defend Kanu in court against the Nigerian government’s new allegations.
Fein highlighted a pending case filed by a businessman against Ejiofor over an alleged N5.6 million fraud as one of his grounds.
Ejiofor, he claimed, had a case to answer, and that the allegations were not made up by the Nigerian government.
As a result, he demanded that Ejiofor leave Kanu’s legal team immediately.
The letter reads, “How can you be blind to what all the world can see and understand?
“According to the public record, you have a blatant conflict of interest in representing Nnamdi Kanu to defend against the Federal Government of Nigeria’s amended charges in the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Judicial Division Holden in Abuja, Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 in violation of Rule 10 of the Nigerian Rules of Professional Conduct.
“The public record shows you have a conflicting interest to sabotage Nnamdi Kanu’s defense in exchange for leniency or a pardon in the pending fraud prosecution against you in FRN v. IFEANYI EJIOFOR & 2 ORS, CHARGE NO. CR/950/2020, Court No. 3, FCT High Court, Maitama, before Honourable Justice M.E. Anenih. The next hearing in your prosecution is scheduled for March 30, 2022.
“The public record establishes that the fraud charges were not concocted by the FGN to preempt your representation of Nnamdi Kanu. The record shows the charges were triggered by a complaint from a private businessman with no political or other ulterior motive to defame or handicap you: Okpala Comas Ikechukwu.
“Among other things, he stated in a complaint to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission that you defrauded him of N5,600,000.00 by conspiring to represent forged land or title documents as authentic.
“Nothing in the public domain demonstrates that you shared your conflict of interest with Nnamdi Kanu and received his knowing and voluntary written consent to represent him notwithstanding the conflict.
“You are saddled with a professional and personal duty to recuse yourself immediately from further representation of Nnamdi Kanu and to apologize for your neglect to do so earlier.
“As the Bible preaches (Matthew 6: 24): ‘No one can serve two masters.’ I expect you to do the right thing.”
Both the IPOB and Ejiofor are yet to react to the circulating letter.
