Terrorism Charge: Appeal Court reserves judgement in Kanu’s case

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgement on the appeal by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.

A three-member panel headed by Justice Jummai Hanatu, after entertaining final submissions from lawyers to parties on Tuesday said a date for judgment would be communicated to them later.

The panel said it was unnecessary to consider the issue of bail for the appellant since the substantive appeal was ripe for hearing.

Kanu is, by the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022, seeking to quash the criminal charge on which he is being tried before a Federal High Court in Abuja for the offences of terrorism and treasonable felony.

He wants the appellate court to review the April 8 ruling by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, which struck out eight out of the 15 counts contained in the charge.

Kanu is equally praying the court quash the remaining counts and discharge him.

Arguing the appeal on Tuesday, Kanu’s lead lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) claimed that his client was forcefully abducted from Kenya and illegally renditioned back to the country.

Ozekhome, who gave a brief history of his client’s trial, said he was first arraigned on December 23, 2015 and granted bail on April 25, 2017.

“My lords, he was enjoying this bail without breaching the terms. However, he was in his ancestral home when agents of the respondent invaded his home in September 2017.

“He barely escaped alive by sheer providence and found himself first in Israel and later in London.

“When the appellant travelled from London to Kenya, agents of the respondents, on June 27, 2021, forcefully abducted the appellant, tortured and renditioned him back to the country without following any extradition process.”

Ozekhome argued that by the Doctrine of Speciality, under Section 15 of the Extradition Act, the Federal Government ought to have proceeded to try Kanu on the five-count charge he was initially facing before he escaped from the country.