The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is expected to know his fate as the Federal High Court is set to deliver judgment on the case between him and the federal government.
Nnamdi Kanu has been in the custody of the State Security Service since 2021 and is standing trial on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony arising from his separatist activities.
The proscribed IPOB leader was charged with treasonable felony and terrorism when he was first arrested in 2015, but was later granted bail. Nnamdi Kanu then fled the country in 2017 after his residence was ransacked during a military “Operation Python Dance” in the South-East.
Four years later, the federal government, through its intelligence, rearrested Kanu, who had been hiding in Kenya, in June 2021.
Immediately after he was extradited, the Supreme Court granted leave to the federal government to bring nine new grounds of appeal against Nnamdi Kanu.
After so many arguments from the government and counter-arguments from Kanu’s lawyer, the Federal High Court, Abuja, gave Nnamdi Kanu a final opportunity to enter a defence in his ongoing terrorism trial or risk having his case foreclosed.
Kanu, who chose to represent himself, maintained that there was no valid charge against him and therefore refused to enter a defence.
RN