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SUSPENDED Alberta justice minister and solicitor-general Kelechi Madu has been asked by the Coalition for Truth and Justice (CTJ) to apologise to Nigeria’s attorney-general Abubakar Malami for criticising the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu.
Mr Madu, 48, who was appointed as the justice minister and solicitor general of the Canadian province of Alberta in August 2020, was born and raised in southeast Nigeria and graduated from the University of Lagos with a law degree in 2001. He has used his office to criticise the Nigerian government following the abduction and arrest of Mr Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), who was snatched commando-style in Kenya.
Nigerian security operatives had arranged with private mercenaries to abduct Mr Kanu and fly him to Abuja where his trial for treason has resumed. Like many lawyers, Mr Madu criticised the move for being extra-judicial as no arrest warrant was obtained from a court and no deportation order was signed by any Kenyan minister.
Earlier this month, Mr Madu was suspended from duties following a traffic violation controversy that happened in March last year. Following his suspension, the pro-government CTJ has attacked him, saying Mr Madu has been exposed to be a sham, who lacks capacity in evaluating legal issues.
According to the CTJ, Mr Madu, attacked Mr Malami in July describing him as a bigot who does not understand what it means to live in a pluralistic society governed by the dictates of the rule of law. CTJ national coordinator, Timothy Charles, said Mr Madu’s traffic infraction in Alberta and his subsequent indiscretion proves he is unqualified for such exalted position.
He added that Mr Madu should apologise for attempting to normalise terrorism. According to Mr Charles, the Alberta official must reflect on the facts around his poster boy, Nnamdi Kanu, whose ongoing trial for treason enjoys the support of right-thinking Igbo leaders.
Mr Charles noted that the decision to prosecute Mr Kanu for his crimes against Nigeria is one that any attorney-general would have taken for statutory and security reasons and not one that Mr Malami took as an individual. He therefore, demanded an immediate public apology from Mr Madu to the federal government and to Mr Malami if he has any iota of honour still left in him.
