By Barth Nwagu
Counsel to the secessionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor has opened up about his frosty relationship with his former client, and leader of the group, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu had removed Ejiofor as his counsel in the middle of his terrorism trial and replaced him with Barr Aloy Ejimakor, while Ejiofor continued to play the role of the counsel to IPOB.
But in a social media post he made on Monday in the build up of attacks on him by supporters of Kanu, Ejiofor has revealed that Kanu regularly sponsored attacks against him while in prison and also encouraged his supporters to attack him on social media, including commissioning his elimination.
He said: “A supposed client personally embarked upon a relentless and ceaseless campaign of blackmail against his own lawyer for years.
“He published through his proxies, unprintable and apparently manufactured materials calculated to create the impression that the lawyer had received professional fees under circumstances entirely different from the truth. Yet, the lawyer remained resolutely silent.
“He proceeded to file frivolous, ridiculous and wholly unfounded petitions before the relevant professional body, founded upon what appeared to be venomous, malicious and contrived allegations, all while the lawyer was still actively engaged in representing the supposed client. Still, there was no response from the lawyer.
“From his detention facility, he personally issued threats and, according to verified information available to the lawyer, gave direct instructions to his foot soldiers to eliminate the said lawyer. Yet, nothing happened.
“In all these devastating episodes, it apparently never occurred to the daydreamer that, by repeatedly launching such attacks and allegations against his former lawyer, he had himself fundamentally altered the circumstances surrounding professional confidentiality, particularly insofar as the lawyer might be compelled to defend his own person, reputation and integrity. Still, the lawyer kept quiet.”
Ejiofor insisted that he has been pushed enough but has refused to fight back or even divulge damaging information in his possession which were obtained through lawyer client relationship.
He vowed that when he would release information within his knowledge, the world will know more about Kanu, but he has continued to restrain himself from doing so.
He added that every attack on his person has been traced to Kanu in his prison facility and enabled by his handlers.
He described the most painful as the claims by Kanu had he (Ejiofor) had entered into an intimate relationship with his wife.
The lawyer said he would continue to remain silent: “But they should be reminded of one immutable truth: silence is not ignorance, and restraint is not helplessness. Sometimes, silence is simply the deliberate choice of a person who knows precisely what he possesses, what he knows, and when the time is right to speak,” he said.
