Following the fresh six-count charges filled by the Federal Government of
\nNigeria against the embattled leader of\u00a0 Indigenous People of Biafra,
\nIPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, a\u00a0 federal High Court judge has exempted himself
\nfrom hearing the case.<\/p>\n
Justice Ahmed Mohammed who announced the decision on Wednesday in Abuja
\nafter Mr. Kanu objected to the case, said that it was needless, as the
\nfederal government had repeatedly disobeyed previous court rulings.<\/p>\n
Kanu was charged before the Federal High Court, Abuja alongside two
\nothers, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi in a fresh six-count charge
\nof treason and managing the affairs of \u2018an unlawful society.\u2019 The
\ngovernment is accusing Mr. Kanu of plotting to split Nigeria, by creating
\na Biafra Republic with south east, south south states, and parts of Kogi
\nand Benue states, as component units.<\/p>\n
Kanu, who was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Wednesday, told the court
\nbefore commencement of the prosecution\u2019s plea that he preferred being held
\nin the detention, than subjecting himself to a trial, which outcome will
\nnot be respected. He said his previous trials had various outcomes that
\nwere abused or neglected by the office of the State Security Service, SSS.<\/p>\n
The counsel to the prosecution, who is also the Federal Director of
\nProsecution, office of the Attorney General, Mohamed Diri, told the court
\nthat based on section\u00a0 396 (2) of the constitution, the defendant had no
\nright to object to being tried by the court until after the plea is heard.
\nHowever, Justice Mohammed who said he was opting out of the case also
\ncountered the prosecution counsels, saying that Mr. Kanu had the right to
\nreject the trial, \u201cafter all justice is rooted on confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf any of the parties has no confidence in the court, he has the right to
\nsay so\u201d, Mr. Mohammed ruled. He noted that the prosecution would have done
\nthe same thing if they were in Kanu\u2019s shoes. \u201cAssuming it was the
\nprosecution, if they had no confidence in the court of jurisdiction; would
\nthey not have done so?\u201d \u201cI hereby remit the case file to the honourable
\nchief judge of this court to reassign it,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following the fresh six-count charges filled by the Federal Government of Nigeria against the embattled leader of\u00a0 Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, a\u00a0 federal High Court judge…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n