The Supreme Court is poised to deliver judgment tomorrow on the appeal seeking the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
A five-member panel, led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, had scheduled the date in October after the final briefs of argument were adopted by counsel for both the Federal Government and the detained IPOB leader.
Representing Kanu, Mike Ozehkome urged the court for his immediate release and sought heavy costs against the Federal Government.
In contrast, counsel for the Federal Government, Tijani Gazzali, requested the court to uphold the amended brief of argument filed on May 3, 2023.
He urged the court to allow the government’s appeal, set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgment ordering Kanu’s release, and resume his trial on terrorism-related charges.
Gazzali further asked the apex court to dismiss Kanu’s cross-appeal.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on October 13, 2022, delivered a judgment ordering Kanu’s release.
The court ruled that he was illegally moved from Kenya to Nigeria, dismissing the criminal case. However, Nigerian prosecutors have appealed, and Kanu, in his mid-50s, remains in custody.
Kanu, a former London estate agent and leader of the outlawed Radio Biafra station, was initially arrested in 2015, jumped bail two years later, and reappeared in the UK and Israel.
The Nigerian government has labeled IPOB a terrorist organization, accusing it of stoking ethnic tensions and claiming genocide against Igbos.
