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Tag: Kanu

  • Fed Govt faults Kanu’s fresh request for bail

    Fed Govt faults Kanu’s fresh request for bail

    The prosecution in the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has faulted his fresh request for bail.

    Kanu is being tried for offences bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

    On Wednesday, April 17, prosecuting lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) urged the court to reject Kanu’s request which was part of the conditions set by the defendant for him to submit to the acceleration of the hearing of the case.

    Awomolo described the conditions as frivolous, vexatious, irritating, and baseless.

    He recalled that the trial court had earlier rejected a similar bail request by Kanu, adding that granting the defendant’s fresh bail request amounts to the court overruling itself.

    Awomolo contended that the only option opened to Kanu was for him to approach the Court of Appeal to challenge the rejection of his earlier bail request.

    Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor had listed three conditions that must be met before the defence could submit to the resumption of the trial.

    One of the conditions, according to Ejimakor, was that the bail earlier granted him, but which was revoked when he jumped bail, should be restored to enable him to prepare for his defence.

    Read Also: Release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally, Abia Rep begs Tinubu

    Ejimakor claimed that the bail was erroneously revoked based on a false and fraudulent claim of the federal government.

    The defence lawyer also requested that the arrest warrant issued against Kanu, when he filed the country, should be set aside because, according to him, it was erroneously issued based on allegations by the government that he (Kanu) had jumped bail and escaped out of the country.

    He also requested that Kanu’s lawyers should be permitted to have unhindered access to him as required by law.

    Details shortly…

  • Release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally, Abia Rep begs Tinubu

    Release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally, Abia Rep begs Tinubu

    The member representing Ikwuano, Umuahia North and Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia state in the House of Representatives, Obi Aguocha has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to facilitate the unconditional release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. 

    In a statement on Saturday in Abuja, Aguocha sais the release of Nnamdi Kanu will be a demonstration of good faith in supporting the peaceful development of the South East and the wellbeing of Ndi Igbo.

    Aguocha said Nnamdi Kanu, Omoyele Sowore, Sunday Igboho and Godwin Emefiele are citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria accused by the government of various alleged offences. 

    He said Sowore and Igboho are free men by reason of the determination of the judiciary in protecting the rights of the citizens while  Emefiele, by the determination of the judiciary, has been granted bail in the sum of N50M. 

    He said further that while It is their constitutional right to freedom, Nnamdi Kanu has not been accorded the same right wondering whether he was not a Nigerian citizen.

    Read Also: We are open to political solution on Nnamdi Kanu – Lawyers

    He asked “is Nnamdi Kanu not a citizen? Does Nnamdi Kanu not have a concomitant constitutional right to be granted bail? Shouldn’t Nnamdi Kanu at this point be released unconditionally?

    “Is there one set rule for other Nigerians from different zones and another for Igbo’s within the South East zone?”

  • We are open to political solution -Kanu’s lawyers

    We are open to political solution -Kanu’s lawyers

    The team of lawyers representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, said they would not oppose the adoption of a political solution to resolve the protracted case between the Federal Government and their client.

     The lawyers, led by Kanu’s special counsel, Mr. Alloy Ejimakor, said that section 17 of the Federal High Court Act, empowered the trial judge to recommend reconciliation, otherwise referred to as a “political solution” for the resolution of such matters.

     “The provision of that section is not limited to civil matters alone. So, anyone that puts the issue on the table will consider it. A political solution makes better sense than prosecution.

     “However, it is for the government to put it on the table, then we will consider it. Having said that, we first must defend him and not play politics. Right now, what is on our table is to fight for his defence.

    Read Also: We are open to political solution on Nnamdi Kanu – Lawyers

     “If they bring that option to the table and our client gives us the instruction, we will go for it,” Ejimakor told newsmen.

     Citing cases of the freed Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, and that of social rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, Kanu’s lawyer said he was hopeful that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration would adopt a new approach to handle the matter, different from what was done by his predecessor.

     “We urge President Tinubu to carefully review this case which he inherited from the past administration and see if it was not politically motivated.

  • Nnamdi Kanu’s health deteriorating, family cries out

    Nnamdi Kanu’s health deteriorating, family cries out

    The family of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has accused Igbo leaders and elite of benefitting from the continuous detention of their son.

    They stated Kanu’s continuous incarceration is a humiliation to the entire Igbo race.

    The family tabled their concerns while reacting to the recent refusal of the Federal High Court in Abuja to grant Kanu’s bail application.

    Speaking in a statement by Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the family alleged that some selfish politicians benefiting from the insecurity in the Southeast are behind Kanu’s continued detention.

    The family wondered why some Igbo political leaders now find it difficult to book a meeting with President Bola Tinubu since he took over power.

    It said: “How be it that nobody among Igbo political leaders has reached out to Tinubu to discuss Nnamdi Kanu’s release almost a year after he came to power?

    “Is it not deliberate? Have they not been gaining access to the President concerning other issues? It’s a shame that Kanu is being punished for asking for the freedom of Ndigbo and the leaders have abandoned him to die in DSS custody.

    Read Also: Military kills 106 terrorists, apprehends 103

    “Kanu is terribly sick and nobody cares. His health is deteriorating every day. He has not changed his clothes. Why has the court continued to hold him in DSS custody instead of the Correctional Centre?”

    The family added: “Why can’t they go for his release if they truly love the South East? Something is definitely wrong somewhere. They are benefiting from his continued detention, and that’s why they are not making any serious moves to engage Mr President. Don’t forget that some people sponsored his abduction and extraordinary rendition.

    “Why should he be abandoned for asking for the freedom of Biafra? He didn’t take up arms against the government, but he was tagged as a terrorist. Yet the same government is busy releasing terrorists from detention.”

    The IPOB leader’s family threatened to expose the beneficiaries of their son’s continued incarceration and the insecurity in the Southeast region.

  • Kanu recant?

    Kanu recant?

    It’s not quite like the Fela-Justice Gregory Okoro-Idogu case — “e don beg me” — in which Fela, the inimitable Afro Beat icon, claimed Justice Okoro-Idogu, who tried and sent Fela to jail on a controversial currency rap, had recanted on the judgment and since apologised — “e don beg me”!

    But the trial justice denied it all — counter-claiming he only learnt Fela was in a ward at a hospital he was visiting, as official duty, and only visited Fela to extend courtesies.

    God knows which version was true; and no one knows how the grandiloquent Emma Powerful, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) spokesperson, would spin this one.  But it appears Nnamdi Kanu is set, stylishly using his release as a bargaining chip, for a spectacular recant.  E don beg dem?

    First, the Freudian slip, laced with insane boast, but not unwelcome anti-violence bluster: “Anybody involved in any form of violence in the East in the name of IPOB is a goner and they know it,” he thundered.  “Let me come out of this mess,” he pleaded, “only two minutes, there will be peace in the South East.”  Open sesame?

    So, the ever-thunderous, ever garrulous, never-apologizing Kanu now admits he’s “in this mess”?  Awesome!  That, however, is contrary to the IPOB heady strategy of never admitting anything; steeped in boastful no-retreat-no-surrender.

    From Emma Powerful’s propaganda note book, that strategy is simple, if amusing: deny any form of violence traced to IPOB, roar with a fearful decibel in the fond hope that insane din would free you from raising your logic.  Hug the romantic spin; and make out Kanu as some saint more sinned against than sinning.

    But IPOB activists — plus closet supporters in Igboland, including top politicians — forget a life was involved: a life that craves freedom and liberty as any other. 

    Kanu knows where the shoe pinches and his latest comments might just be the first gingerly steps toward a spectacular recant — if not of the IPOB philosophy itself, then of the romantic violence and bullying of law-abiding Igbo folks, who just want to eke out their living but were — or still are? — bottled inside their homes on account of sit-at-home protests.

    Read Also: Catholic Bishops call for Nnamdi Kanu’s release

    Surely, the South East must be bothered about Kanu’s crass and indelicate language? “They know if Nnamdi Kanu is outside, in two minutes, this nonsense will stop.  Who” he boomed, “is the ‘bagger’ or idiot that will speak when I’m talking? That, I will give an order in the South East, who is the idiot that will counter it?  Nobody can.  I am Nmandi Kanu.  Rubbish!”

    Even if you can excuse the hyperbole, the megalomania of this statement is indeed bewildering.  Is Nnamdi Kanu — no elected governor with legitimate coercion under his belt — now some non-state Leviathan: the one that snaps his mighty fingers and everyone runs helter-skelter?  What’s the implication of that for that region?

    Indeed, the South East should be worried at such trash talks on its behalf.  But much more urgent: everyone should be worried about Kanu’s mental health, however his trial, now to be accelerated, peters out.

  • Violence will cease in Southeast after my release, says Nnamdi Kanu

    Violence will cease in Southeast after my release, says Nnamdi Kanu

    Detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra  (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu yesterday said that violence in the Southeast would end if he regains freedom.

    Kanu spoke shortly after Justice Binta Nyako of the  Federal High Court in Abuja denied him bail. An accelerated hearing of his case was, however, okayed by Nyako.

    The IPOB claimed that persons he suspected to be in government and those hiding under the name of IPOB  to cause the mayhem in the zone were doing so because of his detention. 

    His words: “Anybody committing crime cannot go free. I swear it. Anybody committing crime in the Southeast cannot go free.

    “They are doing it because I am in the DSS (Department of State Services)  custody. If I were to be outside, nobody could try this. I suspect that some people in government are complicit. They are making money with the insecurity.

    “They know if Nnamdi Kanu is outside, in two minutes this nonsense will stop. Who is the bagger or idiot that will speak when I am talking?

    “That, I will give an order in the Southeast, who is the idiot that will counter it? Nobody can. I am Nnamdi Kanu. Rubbish!

    “Anybody involved in any form of violence in the East in the name of IPOB is a goner and they know it. Let me come out of this mess, only two minutes, there will be peace in the Southeast.”

    Read Also: NEITI: Three tiers of government share N10.143tr in 2023

    Kanu is being tried on a seven-count bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism-related offences.

    Kanu   told the court  that he was not free to consult  freely with his   lawyers any time they visited

    In a dramatic mode, he pulled off his  Liverpool sports wears, to show the judge parts of his armpit to prove that he had a health challenge.

    His trial resumed following the December 15, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court, which voided an earlier judgment by the Court of Appeal, freeing Kanu.

    During the proceedings yesterday, Justice  Nyako dismissed a fresh bail application by Kanu’s lawyer Alloy Ejimakor, saying she had rejected an earlier one.

    Binta said she was of the view that the only option opened to Kanu was for him to appeal the earlier decision on his bail.

    The judge equally rejected Kanu’s request to be allowed unfettered access to anybody who wishes to visit him in custody.

  • BREAKING: Court declines Nnamdi Kanu’s fresh bail request

    BREAKING: Court declines Nnamdi Kanu’s fresh bail request

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a fresh bail application brought by the detained leader of the proscribed separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Justice Binta Nyako, in a ruling on Tuesday, March 19, held that the court cannot grant Kanu bail on the fresh application having rejected an earlier one.

    Justice Nyako was of the view that the only option opened to Nnamdi was for him to appeal the earlier decision of the court refusing him bail.

    Read Also: Court refuses Anchorage’s application to amend claim against Ecobank

    Kanu is being tried on a seven-count bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism-related offences.

    The trial resumed following the December 15, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court, which voided the earlier judgment by the Court of Appeal, freeing Kanu.

    Details shortly…

  • Kanu’s N1bn suit against DSS gets March 18 date

    Kanu’s N1bn suit against DSS gets March 18 date

    The Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday adjourned a fresh N1 billion suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against the Federal Government until March 18 for a hearing.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had, on January 8, reported that Justice James Omotosho fixed the hearing for yesterday.

    Counsel to the defence, I.I. Hassan, told the court that they were yet to be served with the processes.

    But Kanu’s lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, said everything needed for the service had been perfected.

    He wondered why the originating motion and other applications were yet to be served on the defence by the bailiff.

    Justice Omotosho adjourned until March 18 for the plaintiff to serve the defence in the suit.

    NAN reports that Kanu, through his lawyer, Ejimakor, had filed the latest suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1633/2023 for the enforcement of his fundamental rights.

    He sued the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Department of State Service (DSS) and its Director-General.

    The detained IPOB leader sought “a declaration that the respondents’ act of forcible seizure and photocopying of confidential legal documents pertaining to facilitating the preparation of his defence which were brought to him at the respondents’ detention facility by his lawyers, amounted to denial of his rights to be defended by legal practitioners of his own choice”.

    Read Also: Dangote names Lagos refinery road after Wigwe

    He also sought “a declaration that the respondents’ act of refusing or preventing his counsel from taking notes of details of counsel’s professional discussions/consultations with him at DSS detention, with said discussions/consultations relating to preparation of his defence amounted to denial of his right to be given adequate facilities for the preparation of his defence by legal practitioners of his own choice”.

    Kanu sought an order compelling the respondents to issue an official letter of apology to him for the infringement of his fundamental right to a fair hearing.

    He is also seeking an order mandating the respondents to jointly and severally pay the sum of N1 billion as damages for the mental, emotional, psychological and other damages he suffered as a result of the breach of his rights.

  • Court to rule on Kanu’s bail application March 19

    Court to rule on Kanu’s bail application March 19

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed March 19 for ruling on a fresh bail application filed by the detained leader of the prescribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

    Justice Binta Nyako chose the date yesterday after taking arguments from lawyers to parties at the resumed hearing in the terrorism case the Federal Government filed against Kanu.

    The IPOD leader is being tried on a seven-count bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism related offences.

    The trial resumed following the December 15, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court, which voided the earlier judgment by the Court of Appeal that freed Kanu.

    The Supreme Court, though faulted the manner Kanu was brought back into the country from Kenya without going through the normal extradition process, ordered that the defendant be tried on the seven counts left among the 15-count charge originally filed against him.

    There was tight security within and around the court premises by personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS), some of whom were hooded.

    Roads leading to the court complex were blacked, while vehicular and human movements were restricted.

    Movement in and around the court building was also restricted, which affected the normal sitting of the other courts within the complex.

    Arguing Kanu’s bail application, his lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, prayed the court to admit his client to bail on health grounds.

    Ejimakor said it would be difficult for Kanu to prepare for his defence unless he was admitted to bail and have unfettered access to his lawyers.

    The lawyer claimed that Kanu was suffering from acute hypertension and heart ailments, among others.

    Read Also: UPDATED: Court to rule on Kanu’s fresh bail application March 19

    He argued another motion, praying the court not to allow the continuation of Kanu’s trial until the Federal Government met certain conditions.

    Some of the conditions, he said, include DSS operatives to be barred from interfering with the defendant’s lawyers during visitation.

    He also requested that the court compel the Federal Government to allow him wear the clothes of his choice.

    Prosecuting lawyer Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) objected to the defendant’s request for bail.

    Awomolo noted that Kanu was once granted bail but jumped it and fled the country.

    The prosecuting lawyer added that Kanu had also breached all the bail conditions earlier set by the court.

    In faulting Kanu’s request in the second motion, Awomolo argued that the defendant has no right under any law to dictate how his trial should be conducted.

    He urged the court to decline the request, arguing that it amounted to a gross abuse of the court process that should not be accepted.

  • JUST IN: Tight security as Kanu’s trial begins today

    JUST IN: Tight security as Kanu’s trial begins today

    Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have taken over the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja as the court is expected to commence the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, today.

    All routes leading to the court, which is beside the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Justice, have been cordoned off.

    Read Also: Kanu’s N50b suit adjourned to April 22

    Only those whose names were on a list held by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, were granted access to the court premises.

    Kanu has been in DSS detention since June 2021 when he was repatriated from Kenya to Nigeria.

    The appellate court had declared illegal and unlawful the abduction of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria and quashed the terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.

    However, the FG appealed against the judgment at the apex court.

    The Supreme Court in its judgment on December 15, 2023, ordered the continuation of the trial of Kanu on terrorism charges.

    Details shortly…