On Monday, February 26, the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the self-proclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on terrorist charges is scheduled to resume by the Federal Government of Nigeria, barring any unanticipated developments.
After the Supreme Court’s decision on December 15, 2023, to allow the continuation of Kanu’s trial on the remaining seven count accusations, the government decided to restart the trial.
According to a notice that DAILY POST obtained, the trial is scheduled to resume before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The notification informed that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) and Kanu’s lead attorney, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), have been served.
According to DAILY POST, the leader of IPOB has been asked to appear in court on that date by the Director General of the Department of the State Services (DSS).
Since his arrest in Kenya on June 19, 2021, and subsequent transfer to Nigeria by the federal government’s security agency, the DSS has had Kanu under custody.
While he was on trial, Justice Binta Nyako found no merit in eight of the fifteen terrorism allegations against him and dropped them.
The judge ordered Kanu to begin his defense on the alleged conduct in April 2022 and upheld only seven counts of the allegations against him.
Nevertheless, the incarcerated IPOB leader was granted a temporary reprieve in October 2022 when the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed all terrorism allegations against him and directed his swift release from DSS custody.
Based on the grounds that Kanu’s rendition from Kenya to Nigeria by the Nigerian government, rather than extradition, was unlawful, the Court of Appeal decided that both his trial and the charges against him were also invalid.
The federal government appealed the Court of Appeal’s ruling dismissing Kanu to the Supreme Court, and on October 28, 2022, the court issued a stay of execution.
In a decision issued on December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s ruling in favor of the government.
The continuation of Kanu’s trial on the seven-count accusations was ordered by the Apex Court in a unanimous ruling by Justice Garba Lawal, with Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim reading the decision.
Justice Lawal ruled that the court still had the authority to continue trying Kanu, even if the Nigerian government had illegally and carelessly removed him from Kenya.
The highest court in Nigeria ruled that Kanu should be freed from prison since his kidnapping from Kenya was illegal, and that he should sue the government in a civil case instead.