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March 20, 2024

Why court refused Nnamdi Kanu’s fresh request for bail

Kanu raises alarm, alleges tricks by FG to perpetually hold him down Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has drawn attention to what he described as serial executive and judicial fraud being perpetrated against him since his extraordinary rendition in 2021. In an open letter addressed to Nigerians yesterday, Kanu said: ‘’In a judgment entered on March 1, 2017, the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled that the ‘IPOB is not an unlawful group’. At the time, it received widespread publicity which can be verified. ‘’This landmark ruling (made by the court before it turned unjust) emanated in a criminal proceedings that required ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt’ and in which the federal government and my humble self presented our respective cases. ‘’Alas! Instead of the federal government to go on appeal as the law mandated (if they are dissatisfied with the judgment), the former Attorney-General (Abubakar Malami) went behind closed doors with a letter signed by late Abba Kyari and got IPOB proscribed/tagged a terrorist group in an ex parte proceedings that conducted without notice to me or to the IPOB. ‘’This abominable incident was the earliest sign yet that the government and its judiciary have struck an unholy and fraudulent alliance to deny me my rights and thereby imperil the life and liberty of millions who identity with IPOB. ‘’On October 26, 2022, a Federal High Court declared my extraordinary rendition and detention as unconstitutional, stating that: ‘the manner of arrest and detention of the Applicant (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) in Kenya, his continued detention in Abuja, his subjection to physical and mental trauma by the Respondents, the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to the Applicant amounts to a brazen violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to dignity of his person and threat to life under Section 34 (1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).’ ‘’The court further ordered the federal government to apologize to me and pay me compensation. In a responsible society and well-ordered, run by a responsible government, this judgment is sufficient to have ended my lengthy detention and encourage the federal government to constructively engage me on the issue of the self-determination agitation that triggered this whole saga. ‘’Pedal back to October 13, 2022, when the Court of Appeal held that: ‘The courts must never shy away from calling the executive to order when they resort to acts of ‘executive lawlessness.’ ‘’The duty of the courts is to maintain a balance between ensuring that law and order is obeyed and the protection of the individual from oppressive actions by the executive. ‘’By the forcible abduction and extraordinary rendition of the Appellant (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) from Kenya to this country on the 27th day of June 2021, in violation of international and state laws, the lower court or, indeed, any court in this country is divested of jurisdiction to entertain charges against the Appellant’. ‘’Despite the clarity of this judgment and its comportment with reason, the federal government refused to release me from detention while it went behind closed doors and connived with three other justices of the court of appeal who fraudulently and swiftly sat on appeal over the judgment and practically destroyed it by issuing what they termed ‘a stay of execution’. ‘’One may then ask: Is it not abominable for a court to stay a judgment the government already disobeyed? In a plethora of cases, the Supreme Court has held that anybody who disobeys a related court order cannot be given any judicial relief until such order is obeyed. ‘’This is a sound reasoning that applied to everybody but is fraudulently overlooked when it comes to my case. Fast forward to 15th December 2023 when the Supreme Court sent back my case to the Federal High Court for trial. ‘’For avoidance of doubt, that was not the only decision the Supreme Court made. It also decided that my bail should not have been revoked and it went on to state clearly that the judge exhibited significant and unacceptable bias by revoking my bail. ‘’In a sane society, one would expect that when the High court received my case from the Supreme Court and hankered down for trial, it was also duty-bound to restore my bail in line with the pronouncement of the apex court. ‘’But that did not happen. Why? Well, your guess is as good as mine and that is: the Court connived with the federal government to continue my detention in violation of Section 287 of the Nigerian Constitution. ‘’On September 24, 2024, I decided that I have had enough of taking my chances at getting justice from a judge that, in June 2021, sent me to secret police detention without fair hearing, later refused to transfer me to prison to better prepare for my trial and capped it all by refusing to restore my bail and instead ordering an accelerated trial in the face of the reality that I will never get a fair trial whilst detained at the DSS. ‘’These are the major reasons that compelled me to request recusal of the judge and having consented to it, she proceeded to make an order removing herself from my case. That order was never challenged on appeal; thus it remains extant to this day. ‘’But instead of the Chief judge of the Federal High Court to do the lawful thing by assigning my case to another judge, he connived with the federal government to eat crow and send my case to a judge that stands recused by a valid order. ‘’To conclude this open letter, let me make it clear that it should in no way be construed to mean that there are no decent judges in Nigeria that can be trusted to deliver even-handed justice in my case. That is not the issue. ‘’Instead, the issue is that my case is deliberately being shielded from judges and justices that are deemed to be committed to doing justice, even when it means that the federal government must lose. ‘’Be that as it may, if it will take the rest of my life in detention to produce me before a proper and impartial court, so be it. But let me say this for the world to know: I will not succumb to any trial conducted by any judge or court whose jurisdiction does not pass constitutional muster. Not now, not ever.’’

Nnamdi Kanu

….declines to transfer him to Kuje prison…as IPOB leader gives reason for violence in South East

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed the fresh application the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the treasonable felony charge the Federal Government preferred against him.

Rather, trial Justice Binta Nyako ordered accelerated hearing of FG’s seven-count charge against him.

The ruling came on a day the embattled IPOB leader pleaded the court to transfer him from custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, to Kuje prison, or in the alternative, place him on a house arrest.

Kanu equally gave reasons why violence has continued to fester in the South East region, saying he would have been able to tackle those using the name of IPOB to commit crimes, had it been he is not in detention.

Kanu had in the application he filed through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Alloy Ejimakor, on February 5, prayed the court to grant him bail on “most liberal terms” owing to his deteriorating health.

Ejimakor argued that there was no dispute that the IPOB leader has a serious health condition that was confirmed by federal government owned hospital.

Specifically, he disclosed that series of tests that were conducted on Kanu, showed that he was suffering from hypertension and acute heart disease.

“Our humble submission is that the medical condition of the defendant speaks for itself and the health challenge persists, despite the treatment offered him by the detaining authority,” Ejimako added.

He maintained that Kanu’s continued detention by the DSS, posed a threat to his life, adding that freeing the defendant on bail would enable him to effectively prepare his defence to the charge.

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Besides, Ejimakor alleged that the seeming delay in the prosecution of the case was the fault of the government which he said had repeatedly amended the charge.

On the court’s observation that Kanu once jumped bail, Ejimakor argued that the development had become academic in view of findings and judgements of various courts on the issue.

On its part, FG’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, opposed the bail application, insisting that there was no guarantee that Kanu would make himself available for trial, once released from detention.

Awomolo, SAN, told the court that the security agency had been diligent in protecting Kanu’s life.

According to the prosecution counsel, Section 161 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, stipulated that the defendant must prove that the authorities failed to grant him access to quality healthcare at his detention center.

The senior lawyer further contended that there was nothing tangible that was brought before the court to establish an exceptional circumstance that would warrant Kanu’s release on bail.

He said the court had earlier revoked the defendant’s bail after he violated the conditions attached to it. 

“There is no evidence before the court that Kanu will not jump bail again,” Awomolo insisted.

In her ruling on Tuesday, Justice Nyako held that since her court had earlier refused a similar bail application by Kanu, the only option open to him was to appeal against that decision.

She held that it was legally wrong for the defendant to re-approach the trial court with the same request, instead of taking the matter before the appellate court.

Meanwhile, dissatisfied with the ruling, Kanu, on Tuesday, addressed the court from the dock, insisting that he has a very serious health condition that could not be handled in his present detention center at the DSS. 

He said the agency lacked the medical facilities required for his treatment.

Kanu told the court that his ailment has to do with the heart, a situation he said has started manifesting in his physical appearance, especially his feet.

Besides, he decried that the security agency had continued to restrict his visitors from having access to him.

Speaking from the dock, Kanu alleged a conspiracy to allow him to die in custody of the secret police.

He said: “People will come to see me they will not allow them. They don’t have the medical facility. I have congestive heart failure, they are patching me up.

“My foot is swollen. I asked them to conduct surgery and they said they can’t.

“There is a conspiracy for me to die in detention. I want to be transfered to Kuje,” he told the court.

Responding, Justice Nyako said she was not willing to transfer the defendant to prison custody.

“The law says I can keep you anywhere I think is safe for you. So, if I make an order and it is not adhered to, you have to come back to me.

“We had over 15 terrorists that escaped from there. I don’t have confidence in Kuje prison,” the judge added.

Not deterred, Kanu prayed the court to order that he should be placed on house arrest.

“My lord, since you don’t want me to go to Kuje, order that I should be placed on house arrest. That is done everywhere in the world.  

“I want to adequately plan for my defence. I will defeat them in this same court! Where are the treason felony charges against me? 

“They don’t have any evidence against me. From where did the terrorism charges come from?,” he queried.

Justice Nyako directed him to put his demand in writing, even as she adjourned the matter till April 17.

Meantime, while stepping out of the courtroom, Kanu used the opportunity to speak on the recurring violence in the South East, blaming it on his continued detention.Kanu said it was unfortunate that some criminal elements have been hiding under the banner of the IPOB to carry out nefarious activities in the region.

Vowing that those behind the violence in the name of IPOB would not be spared once he is out of detntion, Kanu, said: “Anybody committing crime cannot go free. I swear it!

“Anybody committing crime in the east cannot go free. They are doing it because I am in the DSS. If I were to be outside, nobody can try this.

“I suspect that some people in government are complicit. They are making money with the insecurity. 

“They know if Nnamdi Kanu is outside, in two minutes this nonsense will stop.

“Who is the bagger or idiot that will speak when I am talking. That I will give an order in the East who is the idiot that I will give an order that will counter it? Nobody can! I am Nnamdi Kanu. Rubbish!

“Anybody involved in any form of violence in the East in the name of IPOB is a goner and they know it. 

“Let me come out of this mess, only two minutes there will be peace in the East,” the visibly irked Kanu bellowed, before he was led away by DSS operatives. 

It will be recalled that Kanu who was first arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, has been in detention since June 29, 2021.

Trial Justice Nyako had on April 25, 2017, granted him bail on health ground, 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 charge 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.

The appellate court said it was satisfied that FG flagrantly violated all known laws, when it forcefully rendered Kanu from Kenya to the country for the continuation of his trial.

It held that such arbitrary use of power by the Nigerian government, divested the trial court of the jurisdiction to further try the Appellant.

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.

Justice Nyako had earlier expressed her displeasure over how the trial had been conducted since 2015.

“This is exactly the way this case has been going since 2015. I am talking to both sides. You always find a way to truncate the proceedings,” the trial judge fumed.

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