Why Nnamdi Kanu may not be released today

Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nigerian Biafra political activist, Nnamdi Kanu, and the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) says reports claiming his client will be freed today is “premature” and based on “assumption”.

Ejimakor said this in an interview with BBC News Pidgin published on the website on Thursday morning.

According to him, he is not happy with the rumours bandied about by most IPOB separatists. He said since the ultimate decision belongs to the court, they cannot confidently say whether Kanu would be released today (Thursday) or not.

POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that Kanu’s treason case was originally scheduled to be heard next year, but the court granted an abridgement of time after a motion was filed by the Nigerian separatist leader.

Justice Nyako had on November 10, 2021, adjourned the trial of Kanu till January 19 and 20, 2022, for trial.

But the court granted an abridgement of time after a motion was filed in that respect, and he is expected to appear in court today (Thursday).

Kanu, 54, was born at Afaraukwu, Abia State. He had been arrested in 2017 for demanding the secession of the South-East zone from the Nigerian State.

However, he jumped bail in June 2018 before leaving for the United Kingdom (UK), though he said that he fled because his life was no longer safe in Nigeria.

After more than three years abroad, Nigeria’s Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami at a press briefing in Abuja on June 29, 2021, announced that the IPOB leader was re-arrested in a foreign country and extradited to Nigeria.

Ejimakor had said the IPOB leader was re-arrested in Kenya and whisked to Nigeria.

Upon his re-arrest and extradition in June 2021, he was re-arraigned before Justice Nyako for terrorism-related charges brought against him by the AGF office. Kanu has since been remanded in the custody of the DSS in Abuja.

Some respected Igbo elders, led by Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, had recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock and requested the unconditional release of the detained secessionist leader.

Buhari had told them he would not want to interfere in the running of the judiciary but said he would consider their demand though “a heavy one.”