On Monday, 20 May 2024,the Federal High Court in Abuja denied a new request for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to be released on bail while the Federal Government’s treasonous felony charge against him was being considered. The trial judge, Binta Nyako, gave the decision for the court, stating that it was not inclined to use its discretion to support the defendant, who had claimed had jumped the bail it had earlier set.

Judge Nyako observed that once the defendant fled the nation, individuals who had served as his sureties came before the court and requested to be removed from the case. The court had to order the forfeiture of the sureties’ N100 million bail bonds since, according to her, the sureties had said in their applications that they were unaware of the defendant’s whereabouts.

The trial Court stated that the matter is presently before the Court of Appeal, and the ruling stated that Kanu had no choice but to take the case to the appellate court after his requests for release had been turned down multiple times. In a similar vein, the court denied Kanu’s request to be put under home arrest or transported to jail.

On the other hand, it mandated that Kanu’s legal team be allowed access to the Department of State Services, or DSS, at all times, with no more than five people per visiting day. It also said that Kanu be allowed access to a Doctor of his choice and that he be provided with “a clean place” in the DSS detention center where he can meet with his lawyers.

Judge Nyako issued a warning, stating that any effort on the part of Kanu’s legal team to submit similar applications to the court will be viewed as a flagrant misuse of the legal system. The trial judge said, “You have the option to appeal; please exercise your right of appeal.”

Recall that on October 14, 2015, after returning from the United Kingdom, Kanu was first taken into custody in Lagos. After around eighteen months in custody, he was granted bail by Justice Nyako on April 25, 2017, for health reasons. On April 28, 2017, he was freed from Kuje Prison after fulfilling the terms of his bail.

However, midway through the trial, the IPOB leader fled when the nation troops raided his residence at Afara Ukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State, resulting in the deaths of several of his supporters. On June 19, 2021, Kanu was apprehended again in Kenya. On June 27, 2021, security personnel remarkably brought him back to the nation.

After the events, on June 29, 2021, the trial court remanded him to the DSS’s custody, where he has stayed to this day. On April 8, 2022, the court dismissed eight of the fifteen counts that the Federal Government had filed against him, citing they were not sufficient.

Similarly, on October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal’s Abuja Division ruled that Kanu must be released from custody right away while also dropping the charges against him.

The Appeal Court declared that “when FG’s forced return of Kanu from Kenya to the country for the purpose of extending his trial, constituted a gross violation of all known laws. The ruling stated that the trial court lost the authority to try the appellant further due to the Nigerian Government’s capricious use of power.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, FG appealed the case to the Supreme Court while also convincing the Lower Court to halt the execution of the judgment while its appeal was being considered. On December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the Appellate Court’s decision and authorized the FG to prosecute the IPOB leader on the seven-count accusation that is still pending.

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