The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, will on Friday, September 26 know his fate at the Federal High Court in Abuja where he is requesting that the terrorism charges against him be quashed and he be set free from the charges.
Justice James Omotosho is to deliver a ruling on whether the Biafra nation agitator has a case to answer on terror charges or not on September 26.
Although October 10 was fixed for the ruling, the date was brought forward on the ground that the ruling was ready ahead of the date.
The notice for the ruling delivery by the court had been served on Kanu through his lawyer, Godwin Kanu Agabi SAN while that of the federal government was delivered to it through Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN who prosecuted the case.
Kanu made a no case submission shortly after the federal government concluded presentation of its case against him upon calling five witnesses and rendering some exhibits.
Kanu through his lead lawyer, Godwin Kanu Agabi SAN had on July 18 applied to the Judge to throw away the terrorism charges against him on the ground that he was not properly and legally linked with any terrorism offenses and asked the court to discharge and acquit him.
Among other arguments, Agabi, SAN, said that throughout the proceedings, no single witness was called to tell the court how he was incited by Kanu to resort to violence.
He also informed the court that the five witnesses called during the trial, who are operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, admitted that their roles were limited to obtaining statements from Kanu.
Agabi argued that no investigation whatsoever was carried out on Kanu’s statements and no report of any investigation on terrorism allegations was made available to the court.
The senior lawyer drew the attention of the court to the fact that the charges against Kanu were amended eight times, yet no one came to testify that he was instigated to violence.
Insisting that Kanu was only asking people to defend themselves from the wanton killings, Agabi argued that the threat to bring the world down by Kanu was mere boasting and should not be used against him to justify terrorism offences.
He said that asking Nigerians to defend themselves is a constitutional right and has been re-echoed by other Nigerians, including General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd).
Agabi also faulted the solitary confinement of Kanu over the last 10 years, in violation of international law that states solitary confinement must not last more than 15 days.
Insisting that the ingredients of terrorism charges were not established throughout the trial, Agabi, SAN, pleaded with the judge to hold that no prima facie case was made against Kanu to warrant ordering him to enter defence on the charges.
On its part, the Federal Government told the court that the threat by Biafra nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, to break up the country and establish a Republic of Biafra was not a mere empty threat but a deliberate one.
The government said the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) made a broadcast on Biafra Radio Station where he openly and publicly declared his intention to break up Nigeria.
The Federal Government’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, said the broadcast by Kanu caused Nigerians to live in great fear.
The senior lawyer told Justice Omotosho to reject the claims of Kanu that he had no case to answer in the seven-count terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
Awomolo argued that boasting to break up Nigeria is a fundamental security issue for the nation and, as such, should not be considered an empty threat as claimed by Kanu.
The government lawyer informed the court that Kanu, in the broadcast, directed his followers to go after policemen and kill them along with their families, adding that over 170 security agents were killed shortly after the broadcast.
“The defendant made a broadcast. He proudly declared himself as IPOB leader even when he knew that IPOB had been proscribed. He made a broadcast that the world will come to a standstill.
“The law of Nigeria prohibits words capable of making Nigerians live in perpetual fear, threatening to bring Nigeria down. The aim is to create Biafra and not mere boasting, and there are consequences for such boasting.”
Awomolo pleaded with the judge to reject the no-case argument of Kanu and order him to enter his defence in the charges against him, adding that the no-case application was a misplaced and misconceived one.
