By Our Reporter
Legal practitioner, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has publicly reacted to the decision of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to terminate his services as personal lawyer, saying he has maintained silence despite years of alleged attacks, blackmail and threats.
Ejiofor’s response comes days after Kanu, in a letter dated July 22 from the Sokoto Correctional Centre, formally ended the lawyer’s retainership and directed him to stop representing him, his family and IPOB in any capacity.
In the letter, Kanu also warned Ejiofor against making public statements or disclosing confidential information obtained during the course of his legal representation, cautioning that any unauthorized disclosure could amount to professional misconduct and attract disciplinary proceedings before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), in addition to other legal consequences.
Reacting in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Monday, Ejiofor said he deliberately chose restraint despite what he described as years of sustained provocations.
He accused Kanu of orchestrating campaigns of blackmail against him, filing what he termed frivolous petitions before the appropriate professional body, and making several defamatory allegations against him over the years.
Ejiofor further alleged that Kanu threatened him from detention and instructed his supporters to target him, claims he said he never publicly addressed.
According to the lawyer, he also endured allegations concerning both his professional conduct and personal life but remained silent out of respect for legal ethics and professional responsibility.
He argued that Kanu’s recent insistence on client confidentiality only surfaced after he allegedly became aware that certain evidence could be presented in court in defence of another party in an ongoing defamation suit.
“The time has not yet come for me to divulge professionally obtained information. And even if I had intended to do so, I would have done so long before now,” Ejiofor said.
Maintaining that he had consistently acted within the bounds of professional ethics, Ejiofor said he had no intention of becoming responsible for the consequences of another person’s actions.
He also declined to respond directly to what he described as “concocted or apparently forged correspondence hurriedly assembled by overzealous actors,” an apparent reference to Kanu’s letter terminating his services.
Questioning the motive behind Kanu’s warning on confidentiality, Ejiofor said:
“Why the sudden panic? Why the hurried invocation of professional confidentiality? Why the desperate attempt to silence a voice that has, for years, chosen restraint over retaliation?”
He concluded with a cryptic warning, saying: “Time is fast running out. For now, nothing has been said. And perhaps that is precisely what is causing all the lamentation. It is only a matter of time.”
The exchange marks the latest development in the public fallout between Kanu and his former counsel, following the IPOB leader’s decision to formally terminate Ejiofor’s legal services and bar him from further representing him or the separatist group.
