Nnamdi Kanu, the jailed leader of IPOB, has rejected the new seven-count terrorist indictment that the Federal Government had filed against him, calling it unfounded and improper.
Through his legal team, Kanu, who is now detained by the Department of State Service (DSS), argued that the modified charge was the same as the one that was just thrown down by the Court of Appeal.
After the Court of Appeal’s October 13 ruling exonerated him of all charges and ordered his release from custody, he claimed that FG “covertly” and “clandestinely” changed the accusation.
All of the accusations against the IPOB leader that had previously been upheld by the trial court were included in the revised charge with the file number FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 that was filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In particular, the Federal Government (FG) charged that Kanu, who is currently detained by the Department of State Service (DSS), had issued a lethal threat to anyone who disobeyed his sit-at-home order in the South Eastern region of the country in a broadcast that was heard and received throughout Nigeria as a member of an illegal group.
It informed the court that because of the threat, banks, schools, markets, shopping malls, and fuel stations located in the Eastern States of Nigeria have kept their doors locked, preventing both pedestrian and vehicular traffic from moving.
The FG further asserted that between 2018 and 2021, the IPOB commander conducted broadcasts that were heard and received in Nigeria and incited people to kill and hunt down members of the Nigerian security forces and their families, violating Section 1(2)(h) of the 2013 Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act.
It stated that between the months of March and April 2015, the defendant “Imported into Nigeria and kept in Ubulisiuzor in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, a Radio Transmitter known as Tram 50L concealed in a container of used household items which you declared as used household items, and you thereby committed an offence contra [Kanu’s] order for members of the IPOB to “manufacture Bomb
Even though he was later exonerated by the appeal court, the thorny IPOB leader had already entered a not guilty plea to the case.
On Monday, trial Justice Binta Nyako is due to see both Kanu’s defense team and the attorneys representing the FG.
The parties will debate whether FG might proceed with the modified charge against the IPOB leader despite the Court of Appeal ruling and any appeals on the case that are now before the Supreme Court.
Kanu complained that the Federal Government had not yet served him with a copy of the seven-count revised charge in a press release that was signed by a senior member of his defense team, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor.
The new purported charge seems to have the same Charge No. FHC/ABJ/ER/383/2015 as the one recently addressed and dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.
Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was entirely exonerated by the aforementioned intermediate court, which also ruled that he could not be tried or punished in any Nigerian court of law.
The Court of Appeal’s aforementioned decision is still in effect today and has not been overturned by a higher court.
Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s powerful team, led expertly by Chief Ozekhome SAN, has already swiftly moved to the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision to halt the implementation of its own judgment that had freed Kanu.
“The appeal with regard to that has been properly filed with the Supreme Court under Appeal No. SC/CR/1394/2022 and is currently awaiting a hearing date.
“It is also important to remember that the Supreme Court has not overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision, thus it is still valid today.
“Therefore, it is essential to note that, in light of this ruling, no complaint of any kind, or asserted in any manner, against Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before any Nigerian court of law.
“Our investigation last evening, after reading about the fictitious charge in the social media, led us to the conclusion that the supposed accusation was secretly yet covertly submitted by the Federal Government hours after the Court of Appeal’s decision on October 13, 2022.
This was done even before it acquired a certified genuine copy of the aforementioned Court of Appeal ruling.
The Prosecutor (Federal Government), we presume and may want to believe, was not at that point in time aware of the details, full import and implication of the well-delivered judgment of the Court of Appeal, at the time of filing the said charge. As a result, the filing of the said charge was clearly ill-informed and ill-advised.
Additionally, we want to think that this is what prompted the Federal Government to drop the accusation once it was hastily filed.
It is important to note that, up to this point, the Federal Government has not taken any action to serve the charge on our client, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, or on our knowledgeable lead counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN.
This is to further reassure Umuchineke that our legal team, which is ably led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the legal icon of our time, will be in court on Monday, November 14, 2022, to combat any shady tactics or results the Federal Government may have planned to achieve through deception, with a charge that has been declared “dead like dodo” and permanently buried.
It will be noted that on April 8, trial Justice Nyako had dismissed eight of the fifteen counts of charges that the FG had brought against Kanu, reasoning that they were merely repeats and did not reveal any offense that could be supported by the proof of evidence in front of the court.
The court authorized Kanu’s trial on charges 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 15, but tossing out counts 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the accusation.
In the counts that were dismissed, the FG claimed, among other things, that Kanu had incited the people through his broadcasts to carry out a violent revolution, assault police personnel, and demolish public buildings in Lagos State.
When the trial judge decided to uphold some of the accusations against him, Kanu appealed the case to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, where he was successful.
In its ruling, a three-member panel of the appeal court chaired by Justice Jummai Hanatu-Sankey dismissed and ordered the release of the IPOB leader from custody while also quashing the whole 15-count allegation.
The court declared itself satisfied that when FG forcibly extradited Kanu from Kenya to the nation to continue his prosecution, it acted in flagrant violation of all recognized laws.
It concluded that such extraordinary rendition, carried out without following due legal procedure, was a grave violation of all international conventions, treaties, protocols, and guidelines to which Nigeria is a party, as well as a violation of the appellant’s fundamental human rights.
(VANGUARD)
