Nigerian Separatist, Nnamdi Kanu taken back to DSS custody till Nov. 10

Nigerian Separatist, Nnamdi Kanu taken back to DSS custody till Nov. 10

Nigerian Separatist, Nnamdi Kanu, back to DSS custody till Nov. 10

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, fixed November 10 to hear an application filed by the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, challenging the competence of the treasonable felony charges filed against him by the federal government.

He is, via his fresh application, asking the court to dismiss the newly amended charges of seven counts.

The judge, Binta Nyako, fixed the date after the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) filed the amended charges.

Mrs Nyako also made an order that three people of Mr Kanu’s choice should be allowed to visit him every Thursday.

However, Mr Kanu’s request that he be transferred to Kuje Correctional Centre was rejected by the court.

Earlier, the State Security Service (SSS) brought Mr Kanu to the courtroom on the fifth floor of the Federal High Court edifice in Abuja around 9:45 a.m. surrounded by heavily armed security agents.

It was reported earlier that many journalists and lawyers were denied entry into the court premises.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation had, on Monday, filed fresh amended charges of seven counts against Mr Kanu.

Among the charges are treasonable felony and acts of terrorism which he is accused of perpetrating through his separatist activities.

NAN also reports that there was pandemonium earlier at the main entrance of the building as lawyers clashed with the SSS personnel over refusal to allow them access into the court premises.

The separatist, who was granted bail in April 2017, fled the country after the invasion of his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, by the military in September that year, a situation one of Mr Kanu’s lawyers, Alloy Ejimakor described as the “rule of self-preservation.”

Mrs Nyako subsequently revoked his bail for ditching his trial, and ordered his trial to be separated from the rest of the co-defendants’.

While the trial of the rest of the defendants has made some progress, Mr Kanu’s has been stalled since 2017.

On June 29, 2021, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, announced that Mr Kanu had been rearrested and brought back to Nigeria to continue facing his trial.

He said the IPOB leader was “intercepted” days earlier but did not give details.

Although there has been no official disclosure about where and how Mr Kanu was arrested, relatives and lawyers to the IPOB leader, have described how he was “kidnapped” in Kenya under controversial circumstances.