Following the fresh six-count charges filed by the Federal Government against the embattled leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, a Federal High Court judge has exempted himself from hearing the case.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed who announced the decision on Wednesday in Abuja after Kanu objected to the case, said that it was unnecessary, as the federal government had repeatedly disobeyed previous court orders.
Kanu was charged before the Federal High Court, Abuja alongside two others, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi in a fresh six-count charge of treason and managing the affairs of ‘an unlawful society.’ The government is accusing Kanu of plotting to split Nigeria, by creating a Biafra Republic with South East, South South states and parts of Kogi and Benue states, as component units.
Kanu, who was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Wednesday, told the court before commencement of the prosecution’s plea that he preferred being held in detention than subjecting himself to a trial whose outcome will not be respected. He said his previous trials had various outcomes that were abused or neglected by the State Security Service (SSS).
The counsel to the prosecution, who is also the Federal Director of Prosecution, Office of the Attorney General Mohamed Diri, told the court that based on Section 396 (2) of the Constitution, the defendant has no right to object to being tried by the court until after the plea is heard. However, Justice Mohammed who said he was opting out of the case also countered the prosecution counsels, saying that Kanu has the right to reject the trial, “after all justice is rooted on confidence,” he said.
“If any of the parties has no confidence in the court, he has the right to say so,” Justice Mohammed ruled. He noted that the prosecution would have done the same thing if they were in Kanu’s shoes. “Assuming it was the prosecution, if they had no confidence in the court of jurisdiction, would they not have done so?”
“I hereby remit the case file to the honourable chief judge of this court to reassign it,” the judge said.
-Vanguard