The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed March 19 to rule on a fresh application the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the treasonable felony charge the Federal Government preferred against him.
The court said it would equally resume full-blown hearing of the case against Kanu the next day, March 20.
Trial Justice Binta Nyako adjourned the matter after she listened to Kanu’s lawyer, Mr. Alloy Ejimakor and the prosecution counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN.
Ejimakor had after the case was called up for trial, drew the attention of the court to Kanu’s bail application dated February 5.
He further told the court that his client had also filed a preliminary objection to challenge the competence of the charge pending against him.
The defence counsel urged the court to grant Kanu bail on “most liberal terms” owing to his deteriorating health.
He said there was no dispute that the IPOB leader has a serious heart condition that was confirmed by federal government owned hospital.
“Our humble submission is that the medical condition of the defendant speaks for itself and the health challenge persists, despite the treatment offered him by the detaining authority,” Ejimako added.
He maintained that Kanu’s continued detention by the Department of State Services, DSS, posed a threat to his life.
Meanwhile, FG’s lawyer, Chief Awomolo, SAN, opposed both Kanu’s fresh bail application and his preliminary objection which he described as an abuse of court process.
FG’s lawyer argued that it would be wrong for the court to allow Kanu’s counsel to dictate how the proceedings should be conducted.
He said it was an insult for Kanu’s lawyer to list what must be done before the trial would commence, adding that the defendant’s rights were never breached by the DSS.
Awomolo, SAN, told the court that the security agency has been diligent in protecting Kanu’s life.
He urged the court to reject Kanu’s request for bail and order accelerated hearing of the case.
The IPOB leader, who was first arrested by security agents in Lagos on October 14, 2015, has been in detention since June 29, 2021.
Trial Justice Nyako had on April 25, 2017, granted him bail on health ground, after he had spent about 18 months in detention.
Upon the perfection of the bail conditions, he was on April 28, 2017, released from the Kuje prison.
However, midway into the trial, the IPOB leader escaped from the country after soldiers invaded his country home at Afara Ukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State, an operation that led to the death of some of his followers.
Kanu was later re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021 and extraordinarily renditioned back to the country by security agents on June 27, 2021.
Following the development, the trial court, on June 29, 2021, remanded him in custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, where he remained till date
