The legal team of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has raised an alarm over the non-resumption of the trial of the Biafra agitator.
The lawyers accused the Federal Government and the judiciary of deliberately delaying the resumption of Kanu’s case in court.
The legal team, consisting of lead counsel Aloy Ejimakor, Jude Ugwuanyi, and Nnaemeka Ejiofor, addressed the conference as part of efforts to mark the arrest of Kanu nine years ago, after he returned to Nigeria from London.
Kanu was arrested and detained on trumped-up charges of treasonable felony, publication of defamatory matters, and improper importation of goods into Nigeria.
While he was arraigned, the IPOB leader pleaded “not guilty” to the charges on 12th December 2015, but was remanded until 25th April 2017, when he was granted bail by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Upon his release, soldiers of Operation Python Dance invaded Kanu’s ancestral home in Afaraukwu, Abia State, between 10th and 14th April 2017.
The invasion led to Kanu fleeing Nigeria for London, where he continued his agitation for Biafra.
His case came up before Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja on 26th June 2018, but he was not in court, having exiled to Kenya to save his life.
On 28th March 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria informed the court that Kanu had jumped bail and violated the terms of his bail, thus applying for the revocation of his bail.
Following this, an arrest warrant was issued for Kanu, along with an order forfeiting the bail bonds of his sureties.
After the Federal High Court revoked Kanu’s bail and issued a warrant for his arrest, the Federal Government of Nigeria abducted him from Nairobi, Kenya, to Nigeria.
However, the legal team said the Nigerian government and judiciary are deliberately delaying the hearing of Kanu’s case.
In a joint statement, the lawyers based this claim on the fact that on 24th September 2024, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, made an order recusing herself from the terrorism case of Kanu before her court and sent the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.
They lamented that the case has not been reassigned to another judge almost five months after she recused herself.
The lawyers also maintained that Kanu was justified in demanding the recusal of Justice Nyako from his case.
The statement said: “There is a concerted effort by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the judiciary not to hear or determine Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s cases and appeals in a timely manner.
“There has been no reassignment by the Chief Judge to date. To the Federal Government of Nigeria, as long as Mazi remains in DSS custody, the trial can go to hell. Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has since 23rd December 2024 written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for the reassignment of the case, but to date, nothing has happened.
“On the part of the prosecution, no effort whatsoever is being made to reassign the case to another judge. We all know how many judges are in the Federal High Court, Abuja, who are eminently qualified and competent to hear the case on its merits, but it seems either Justice Binta hears the case or Mazi Nnamdi languishes in DSS detention indefinitely.”