Nnamdi Kanu Engages Ozekhome To Lead Defence Team In Fresh Terrorism Charges

The self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has engaged the services of a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), to fortify his defence in the fresh 15-count terrorism charge slammed against him by the Federal Government.

Ozekhome stormed the Federal High Court in the company of Ifeanyi Ejiofor who had been earlier leading the team of lawyers for the IPOB leader.

The court had earlier slated yesterday for the IPOB leader to argue his motions challenging the competence of the earlier seven-count charge preferred against his as well as the jurisdiction of the court to handle the matter, only for the Federal Government to, on Monday, slam him with a fresh 15-count terrorism charge.

In the amended charge filed before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the Federal Government increased the counts in the initial charge it preferred against Kanu from seven to fifteen.

But when the matter came up on Tuesday before Justice Binta Nyako, Kanu, through his team of lawyers, now led by Chief Ozekhome (SAN) objected to taking a fresh plea on the 25-count amended charge.

Ozekhome told the court that the amended charge was served on the defence, barely 24 hours to the scheduled hearing and complained that the fresh charge was the sixth in the series adding that his client cannot proceed to take a plea in the charges he has not studied to prepare for defence as required by law.

“My Lord, as I am talking now, Kanu does not know the charge yet. He is just interacting with me. He cannot be made to take plea to charges he has not seen.

“The principle of fair hearing is just being violated by the Federal Government. The frail-looking Kanu standing in the dock there has not been allowed to access his family as directed by this honourable court”, and also claimed that the proof of evidence was not legible enough for their understanding of the fresh charges.

” I went to DSS to see him and I was almost stripped naked before I could see him. We pray that the arraignment be adjourned till tomorrow to enable his lawyers to study the new charge along with him in the interest of Justice.

The Prosecution team, led by Shuaib Labaran from the Federal Ministry of Justice, said he was not opposed to the court granting a short adjournment to enable the defence lawyers to study the fresh charge.

The trial Judge, before adjourning the case till Wednesday, ordered the DSS to allow Kanu to have a change of cloth and do exercise.

The Judge said, “I don’t want to see him in this cloth again. This one is almost off-white. Also, make sure that you allow him to do exercise.”

In the fresh 15-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, signed by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) M. B. Abubakar, the federal government alleged that Kanu, sometimes in 2021, being member and leader of the proscribed IPOB, did commit an act, in furtherance of an act of terrorism against the Federation Republic of Nigeria and the people of Nigeria by making a broadcast received and heard in the country with the intent to intimidate the population, and also threatened that people will die, the whole world will stand still, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 1(2)(b) of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2013.

Count 15 of the charge reads, “That you, Nnamdi Kanu, male, adult of Afaranukwu Ibeku, Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia state on diverse dates between the month of March and April 2015 imported into Nigeria and kept in Ubulisiuzor in Ihiala LGA of Anambra state, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court a radio transmitter known as Tram 50L concealed in a container of uses household items and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 47(2)(a) of Criminal Code Act. Cap C45 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”

It would be recalled that Justice Nyako, before whom the IPOB leader is standing trial had granted him (Kanu) bail, only for him to jump bail and ran out of the country before he was, in June last year, re-arrested in Kenya and extradited to the country to face trial and had since been confined to the detention facility of the DSS in Abuja on the order of the court.

He was first arrested in a Lagos hotel in 2015 by DSS operatives and was arraigned alongside four others in 2016.

Kanu is, among other issues, objecting to the charge preferred against him by the FG on the grounds that it did not in any way link him with the offence and that the alleged offences were even committed in the United Kingdom.

As usual with Kanu’s trial, security around the court premises was beefed up by heavily armed security personnel, including operatives of the DSS to ward off the possible threats to life and businesses.