The leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, was charged with treason on Friday by the Supreme Court.
According to The Nation, Kanu was illegally returned to the country after he skipped bail, thus the federal government asked the court to overturn a previous ruling by the Court of Appeal that had overturned the treasonable felony charge against him and ordered his release.
Kanu wants the Supreme Court to allow the judgment of the Court of Appeal and uphold his discharge and acquittal.
“To allow the appeal, set aside the judgement of the court below, and affirm the Federal High Court’s judgement that the respondent should stand trial in respect of the charge, which the court below quashed,” is the plea made by Tijani Gazali (SAN), counsel for the federal government, to the supreme court.
Gazali further urged the court to reject Kanu’s cross-appeal.
Kani’s lawyer, Mr. Mike Ozekhome, submitted a request to the court asking it to sustain the cross-appeal and dismiss the federal government’s appeal with punitive fees in order to bring considerable justice to this case.
He implored the court to grant his client’s cross-appeal.
Ozekhome’s statement before the court, his client has been detained since June 29, 2021.
The highest court additionally refused to grant Kanu’s release from custody.
The Court of Appeal’s October 2018 ruling, which had granted Kanu’s release and overturned the terrorism charges against him, was declared void and set aside by Justice Garba Lawal’s ruling.
It concluded that even though Kanu was forcibly removed from Kenya by the Nigerian government due to recklessness, this illegal action did not prevent any court from moving forward with a trial.
He stated that no Nigerian law was mentioned in the lawsuit demanding Kanu’s release on the grounds of his alleged unlawful kidnapping from Kenya, and that the current course of action for such an action is for Kanu to file a civil lawsuit against such an act rather than abdicating the courts’ authority to proceed with his trial for criminal charges.
He then gave the order for Kanu to go defend himself against the remaining seven terrorism-related accusations against him.
