The self-acclaimed Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic in Exile, Simon Ekpa, has warned the lawyers of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, not to proceed with the trial on October 21, 2024....For More READ THE FULL STORY▶▶
In August 2024, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed that the trial had been adjourned to October 21, 2024, due to the authorities’’ failure to produce him in court. The judge also ruled that the trial could not commence without the accused present.
Simon Ekpa believes that trying Kanu would be a grave injustice to the IPOB leader, arguing that Kanu has no case in any Nigerian court.
He contended that Kanu was “kidnapped” in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria for trial which violates international and domestic laws.
Taking to his X page, Ekpa wrote, “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu must not allow Nigeria to try him on Monday. A country that kidnapped you from Kenya and put you on trial against international and domestic laws of which their court freed you and the government refused to release you had no intention of giving you fair trial. They will convict you without offence. The lawyers must make sure no trial on Monday. He has no case in any Nigeria court.”
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Security (DSS) since 2021, facing an 11-count charge bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms and improper importation of goods, among others.
Kanu was arrested on October 14, 2015, and arraigned alongside four others. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. In 2017, he was granted bail in the sum of N100 billion with three sureties, one of which had to be a religious leader.
However, the IPOB leader fled the country in September 2017 following a military invasion of his family’s home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State.
In 2019, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted the federal government the authority to revoke Kanu’s bail and ordered his arrest.
Following this order, security forces, with international police cooperation, arrested Kanu and brought him back to Nigeria for trial. Years after his rearrest, the court has denied his release from DSS custody....For More READ THE FULL STORY ▶
