The detained leader of the Proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, on Tuesday, September 24, asked Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja to recuse herself from his trial.
Kanu made this demand after
being docked at the resumed proceeding in the seven-count terrorism charge filed
against him by the Federal government. While his lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor was
trying to persuade the court to suspend the trial on the basis that his client
was denied the opportunity to prepare his defence, Kanu, sprang up from his
seat and ordered him to sit down.
“Sit down! I say you should sit down! My lord,
I have no confidence in this court anymore and I ask you to recuse yourself
because you did not abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. I can
understand it if the DSS refuses to obey a court order, but for this court to
refuse to obey an order of the Supreme Court is regrettable. I am asking you to
recuse yourself from this case,” Kanu said
At this juncture, the
prosecution counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, urged the court to ignore Kanu’s
position, insisting that the Supreme Court directed that he should be tried on
the pending seven-count charge.
“The Justices ordered this court to proceed
with the hearing of the charge against the defendant. My lord, you should not
recuse yourself based on this mere observation which does not have anything to
do with the Supreme Court. It is an incompetent observation. We urge this court
to proceed with the hearing,” FG’s lawyer submitted.
Not done, Kanu, rose again from
the dock, waving a copy of what he described as the subsisting judgement of the
Supreme Court.
“But my lord, you know that I love you. It is
just that this court is allowing the defence to railroad me into a trial that is
at variance with every provision of the Constitution,” Kanu added.
After she had expressed her
dissatisfaction with the development, Justice Nyako said she was not willing to
continue with the case.
“I hereby recuse myself and remit the case file
back to the Chief Judge,” she held.
The court had earlier okayed
FG’s request to shield the identities of witnesses billed to testify in the
matter. It will be recalled that Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October
14, 2015, upon his return to the country from the United Kingdom, UK. Justice
Nyako had on April 25, 2017, granted him bail on health grounds, 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 DSS, where he
remained till date.
On April 8, 2022, the court
struck out eight out of the 15-count charges that FG preferred against him on
the premise that they lacked substance.
Likewise, the Abuja Division of
the Court of Appeal, on October 13, 2022, ordered Kanu’s immediate release from
detention even as it quashed the charge against him.
Dissatisfied with the decision,
FG took the matter before the Supreme Court, even as it persuaded the appellate
court to suspend the execution of the judgement, pending the determination of
its appeal.
While deciding the appeal, the
Supreme Court, on December 15, 2023, vacated the judgement of the appellate
court and gave FG the nod to try the IPOB leader on the subsisting seven-count
charge.
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