Defence lawyers speak after disengagement by IPOB leader
The defence team abruptly disengaged on Thursday by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has the sudden development.
Mr Kanu, who was scheduled to open his defence in his terrorism trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja, suddenly announced his decision to break with the lawyers at the start of Thursday’s proceedings.
The lawyers, led by septuagenarian Kanu Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Attorney-General of the Federation, immediately announced their withdrawal from the case and filed out of the courtroom.
Speaking to journalists while still on the court premises, Mr Agabi said the legal team respected Mr Kanu’s decision and wished him well.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Kanu’s lead counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), said the IPOB leader has the right to defend himself.
“A number of voices have been defending Nnamdi, and he has decided to conduct his defence by himself,” Mr Agabi said, adding “We respect his decision, and we wish him well.”
The IPOB leader has been standing trial since 2015 on terrorism-related charges filed by the federal government.
Through his sacked lawyers, he applied for a transfer to the National Hospital for treatment based on a medical evaluation by a professor of medicine.
One of the lawyers, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a SAN, told Mr Omotosho during the 26 September proceedings that the professor’s medical report, dated 24 September, was addressed to the State Security Service (SSS).
Following the application, the judge ordered the president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to set up a team of medical experts to examine Mr Kanu’s state of health.
On 16 October, the panel declared the IPOB leader fit for trial.
Also, Mr Kanu had, in a motion he personally signed and filed on 21 October, listed former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and others as his witnesses in his ongoing alleged terrorism trial.
The motion, titled “Notice of Number and Names of Witnesses to be Called by the Defendant and Request for Witness Summons/Subpoena and the Variation of the Time Within Which to Defend the Counts/Charges Against the Defendant”, listed several prominent Nigerians as witnesses.
Among those Mr Kanu described as “compellable witnesses” are the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; former Minister of Defence, retired Gen. Theophilus Danjuma; and former Chief of Army Staff, retired Gen. Tukur Buratai.
Others include the Governors of Lagos and Imo states, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Hope Uzodinma; the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu; and the immediate past Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Abubakar.
He also listed the former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Yusuf Bichi, and several other witnesses whose identities he did not disclose.
In the motion, Mr Kanu promised to “provide the sworn statements of all voluntary witnesses to this honourable court, and to notify the prosecution within a reasonable time.”
The IPOB leader also held a private consultation with his legal team on Wednesday, as directed on 16 October by Mr Omotosho.
The judge adjourned the matter till Thursday for Mr Kanu’s defence.
Mr Kanu is standing trial on terrorism charges over his secessionist campaigns for the independence of South-east Nigeria as Biafra nation.