By Adadareporters
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, is ‘being denied trial to clear his name’ in the charges preferred against by the federal government.
His special counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed this via his X handle on Friday. Ejimakor, who described Kanu as a ‘victim of false imprisonment’, is reacting to non-transmission of his case file to the Federal High Court in Abuja for the commencement of his defence by his legal team.
Recall that Kanu, currently being detained at the custody of the State Security Service in Abuja, December 15, 2023, lost the bid to halt his continued trial following his earlier discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeals, which ruled that the manner he was forcefully brought to Nigeria amounted to extra-ordinary rendition.
The Supreme Court, however, held that Kanu could be tried by the Federal High, Abuja, although admitted that the way he was forcefully brought to Nigeria from Kenya in 2021 did not follow the due process.
The failure to transmit the case file to the Federal High Court is behind Barr Ejimakor’s reaction.
Ejimakor tweeted that, “Sequel to the legal team’s meeting with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on Thursday, it needs to be stated that, without any date set for his trial, he remains a victim of false imprisonment by the Nigerian State. The new game is that he is being denied a trial that will accord him the avenue to clear his name.”
He earlier submitted that, “This delay is unusual and thus unacceptable to Mazi Kanu and he strongly condemns it. In a case where Kanu has been in detention (for two and a half years), and it is in public and judicial knowledge that he is grievously ill, one would expect that it should not take almost one month to certify the judgment and transmit the case file to the Federal High Court. And from what we are hearing, it might as well take over month.
“In particular, given the fact that Kanu’s case cannot go forward without his case file being physically transmitted to the Federal High Court and the judgment thereof certified, any prolongation of taking these steps becomes legally injurious to Kanu, as he continues to be detained without any immediate prospects of trial and exoneration.”
Kanu is being tried over alleged treason, running a proscribed group and jumping bail.
