The
Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, has reserved judgment on the case
against the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi
Kanu.
Leading
the delegation of lawyers representing the IPOB leader, Human Rights Lawyer,
Mike Ozekhome (SAN), urged the court to strike out the remaining charges citing
a lack of credibility.
Ozekhome
specifically prayed the appellate court to review the April 8 ruling of the
trial court which struck out only eight out of the 15 charges.
He also
insisted that the charges federal government entered against him had no basis in
law. Kanu, in his appeal dated April 29 and marked CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022, applied
to be discharged and acquitted.
Although,
following an application the IPOB leader filed for abridgement of time, the
appellate court brought the matter forward for hearing as against the initial
October 11 fixed for the hearing.
When
the matter was called up on Tuesday, a three-man panel led by Justice Jummai
Hanatu, said it had no need to delve into the issue of bail since the
substantive appeal was ripe for hearing.
Ozekhome,
arguing on the matter, he alleged that his client was forcefully abducted from
Kenya and illegally renditioned back to the country. He told the court that his
client was first arraigned on December 23, 2015 and was later granted bail on
April 25, 2017.
“My
lords, he was enjoying this bail without breaching the terms. However, he was
in his ancestral home when agents of the respondent invaded his home in
September 2017.
“When
the Appellant travelled from London to Kenya, agents of the respondents, on
June 27, 2021, forcefully abducted the appellant, tortured and renditioned him
back to the country without following any extradition process,” Ozekhome added.
He
further argued that Kenya, being the country from where Kanu was arrested and
extraordinarily renditioned back to Nigeria, ought to have authorised his
extradition.
The Federal Government, through its lawyer, Mr. David Kaswe, urged the court to dismiss the appeal for want of merit. He asserted that the IPOB leader was brought back to the country by due process of the law, arguing that the charges had been amended seven times owing to the conduct of the appellant.
He
said, “My lords, it took four years and huge resources to get the respondent
arrested and brought back to face the charges against him. We are saying that
the trial court was even wrong to have struck out the eight charges as it did.
“It
is only after the federal government has produced all its witnesses and
tendered its evidence that the Appellant could claim that no prima-facie case
was established.
“Finally,
we urge this court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit,” Kaswe added.
The
panel after listening to both sides said it would communicate a date for the
judgment.
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