The Supreme Court of Nigeria has scheduled December 15 as the date for delivering its judgment on an appeal seeking the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from detention.
A five-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun fixed the date after the counsel for both the Federal Government and Nnamdi Kanu adopted their final briefs of argument.
Kanu’s legal team, led by Kanu Agabi, presented their appeal to the apex court panel. Mike Ozehkome, another prominent lawyer, represented Nnamdi Kanu.
Ozehkome urged the court not only to order the immediate release of his client from detention but also to impose heavy and punitive costs on the Federal Government.
On the other hand, Tijani Gazzali, counsel to the Federal Government, requested that the apex court uphold the amended brief of argument he filed on May 3, 2023.
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He asked the court to allow the government’s appeal, set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgment that ordered Kanu’s release, and direct the resumption of his trial on terrorism-related charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Gazzali also urged the apex court to dismiss Kanu’s cross-appeal.
The Court of Appeal Abuja had, on October 13, 2022, delivered a judgment ordering Kanu’s release from detention.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, the appellate court also quashed a 15-count terrorism charge filed by the Federal Government against Kanu before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The Court of Appeal held that the government had violated established laws by forcibly repatriating Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria for his trial.
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Consequently, it determined that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to proceed with Kanu’s case.
Dissatisfied with this judgment, the Federal Government appealed to the Supreme Court and secured the suspension of the execution of the Court of Appeal’s judgment pending the determination of its appeal.
