Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja on Monday adjourned hearing in the trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu to October 21, 2021.
The trial had resumed without the accused being present in court.
When the matter came up, counsel for the prosecution, M. B. Abubakar, informed the court that the matter was slated for hearing and that they were ready to continue.
However, Kanu’s counsel, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, informed the court that there was a pending application before the court to transfer Kanu from the custody of the DSS to the correctional centre.
Consequently, Nyako declared that the trial could not continue in the absence of Kanu.
She therefore adjourned the matter to October and directed the DSS to produce the IPOB leader in court on that date.
Kanu was arrested in late 2015 in Nigeria but disappeared in 2017 after being released on bail.
He was re-arrested in a controversial circumstance in Kenya and brought to Nigeria.
Announcing the IPOB leader’s re-arrest, the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubarkar Malami said on June 29: “Nnamdi Kanu has been intercepted… He has been brought back to Nigeria, in order to continue facing trial after disappearing.”
Malami said Kanu faces charges that include “terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms and improper importation of goods, among others.”
