The Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on an appeal to force the federal government to free Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from detention on Friday, December 15.
Following the adoption of the final argument briefs by the attorneys representing the federal government and the detained IPOB leader, the supreme court set the date in October.
The appellate lawyer, Chief Mike Ozehkome (SAN), asked the court to impose severe and punitive penalties on the federal government in addition to ordering his client’s immediate release from custody.
Nonetheless, Tijani Gazzali, the federal government’s attorney, asked the supreme court to maintain the modified brief of argument he submitted on May 3, 2023.
He begged the court to grant the federal government’s appeal, overturn the Court of Appeal’s ruling ordering Kanu’s release, and enable his prosecution on terrorism-related charges to resume before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Gazzali also pleaded with the supreme court to reject Kanu’s cross-appeal.
The Court of Appeal Abuja issued a ruling on October 13, 2022, directing Kanu’s release from custody.
According to the court, he was kidnapped, mistreated, and “illegally moved” from Kenya to Nigeria in order to stand trial for treason and acts of terrorism.
Although the criminal case was dismissed by the judges, Kanu, who is in his mid-50s, is still being held by Nigerian prosecutors following their appeal.
After being detained for the first time in 2015, Kanu—a former estate agent from London who also operates the illegal Radio Biafra station—jumped bail two years later and made a reappearance in Israel and the UK.
