Judge reschedules Kanu’s defence as IPOB leader seeks case file from former lawyers
Judge James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday rescheduled the trial of Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu, who requested an adjournment for him to open his defence in his terrorism trial.
Mr Omotosho reluctantly adjourned hearing till Monday, lamenting the adverse impact of Mr Kanu’s prolonged trial on the progress of other cases in his docket.
The trial had stalled on Thursday after Mr Kanu abruptly announced the disengagement of his lawyers who took over his defence just this year, prompting the judge to postpone proceedings till Friday (today).
Due to the development, no lawyer appeared for him on Friday.
Mr Kanu, a separatist seeking the independence of Nigeria’s South-east, entered the dock with a bundle of documents and announced that he would be defending himself.
But he told the judge that his former lawyers led by a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had yet to release his case file for him to study.
He said he had no option but to seek an adjournment to enable him to obtain the file, study it, and adequately prepare for his defence.
He added that he intended to call 23 witnesses from within and outside the country and asked the court to order the SSS to allow the foreign witnesses access to him.
He also requested that the SSS permit his lawyers to meet with him on non-working days, which the judge granted.
The prosecution lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), described Mr Kanu’s complaint as strange, recalling he had spent hours in private sessions with his former lawyers on Tuesday.
Mr Awomolo reminded the judge that Mr Kanu had been given six days to open and close his defence and urged the court to stick to that order.
In a brief ruling, the judge said while Mr Kanu’s claim that his former counsel withheld his case file was “strange and unbelievable,” he would grant the adjournment in the interest of fair hearing.
He, however, warned against further delay, saying several other cases had been held up because of Kanu’s matter.
Mr Kanu, a citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, faces terrorism charges stemming from his inciting campaigns for the independence of the South-east.
He was first arrested in September 2015 over his radio broadcasts advocating the secession of the Igbo-dominated South-east from Nigeria as a sovereign Biafra nation.
He was later granted bail but fled the country in 2017 after a military operation in his hometown in Abia State. He was rearrested in 2021 and has remained in the custody of the SSS since then.
The case has since passed through four judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja and paraded different defence teams.
Mr Kanu shocked his legal team when he suddenly disengagement of his Kanu Agabi-led legal team during Thursday’s proceedings, saying he would defend himself without the help of lawyers.
Addressing journalists on the court premises on Thursday, the lawyers said Mr Kanu has the right to defend himself and wished him well.