The Supreme Court will on December 15 deliver its judgment in the appeal filed by the Federal Government against the discharge and release of detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The apex court on Thursday announced the above date for judgment shortly after taking arguments from parties in the matter.
The Federal Government is seeking the nullification and setting aside of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had quashed the criminal charges brought against Kanu and ordered his release.
The Federal Government’s lawyer, Mr Tijani Gazali (SAN), specifically pleaded that the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which upheld the seven-count charges against Kanu be affirmed so that Kanu can be brought for trial in the charges.
However, while opposing the Federal Government, Kanu’s lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN), maintained that the Federal Government had since June 29, 2021 detained Kanu illegally, unlawfully and unconstitutionally.
The senior lawyer pleaded that the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which quashed the entire charges against Kanu and ordered his immediate release, be upheld and affirmed.
Ozekhome maintained that Kanu’s continued detention by the Federal Government was unlawful in the face of the subsisting Court of Appeal judgment which had ordered that Kanu be immediately released.
Insisting that no government has power to trample on the fundamental rights of citizens as in the case of Kanu, Ozekhome maintained that his client is being detained in gross violation of both local and international laws.
He therefore urged the Supreme Court to uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal and order Kanu’s immediate release.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division had on October 13, 2022 in a judgment in an appeal filed and argued by Ozekhome, dismissed the remaining seven-count criminal charges brought against Kanu by the Federal Government at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In an appeal against the High Court ruling, the Court of Appeal while upholding all arguments and submissions of Ozekhome quashed the entire 15-count criminal charges.
The appellate court agreed with Ozekhome that the Federal Government violated the rules of engagement in the ways and manners Kanu was arrested in Kenya and brought to Nigeria.
Specifically, the Court of Appeal held that the Nigerian government broke the international laws and resorted to self help in its failure to file extradition charge against the IPOB leader in Kenya instead of resorting to unlawful abduction and rendition.
In allowing the appeal, the appellate court had ordered the immediate and unconditional release of Kanu from the custody of the Department of the State Services (DSS).
The court also prohibited the Federal Government from further detaining or prosecuting Kanu on any indictment or charge before any court in Nigeria.
Apparently dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal judgment, the Federal Government took the case to the Supreme Court with a request to quash the findings of the Court of Appeal and restore the trial of Kanu on treasonable felony at the Federal High Court.
The Federal High Court had, in an earlier ruling, retained seven counts out of the original 15 counts against Kanu, after striking out eight of the charges.
Justice Binta Nyako, while striking out the eight charges, had held that Kanu had questions to answer on seven other counts.
Credit: This Day