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Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has spent no fewer than 1,133 days in the Department of State Services detention, Saturday PUNCH can confirm.
Kanu, who was arrested on June 27 in Kenya and subsequently extradited to Nigeria, is facing charges of terrorism, treasonable felony, and inciting violence through his Radio Biafra, amongst others.
Although Interpol had publicly denied any involvement in Kanu’s arrest, the FG said it collaborated with the international police to arrest the separatist.
Kanu’s arrest sparked significant unrest among Biafran separatists and their supporters, especially in the South-East, leading to the commencement of the Monday sit-at-home regime.
The World Igbo Congress, in 2021, condemned the arrest as “illegal abduction and international gangsterism.”
Kanu himself had claimed that he was forced to flee Nigeria in 2017 due to military actions against him. On June 29, 2021, during his arraignment, he reiterated his stance, arguing that his 2017 departure was driven by an infringement of his rights.
The then-Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), disclosed to journalists that Kanu was arrested and brought back to Nigeria on Sunday.
Kanu is facing treasonable felony charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. He also faces charges of unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.
Malami described the arrest as the result of a collaborative effort between security agencies in Nigeria and Interpol.
On July 26, 2021, Kanu appeared in court for a hearing, where the court ordered that he be held in detention at the Department of State Services facility.
The trial began in October 2021, with Kanu being accused of “terrorism, treason, involvement with a banned separatist movement, inciting public violence through radio broadcasts, and defamation of Nigerian authorities through broadcasts”. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
At his next hearing, on November 10, 2021, his lawyer, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, staged a walkout in protest against the alleged refusal by security agents to allow access to the courtroom to other members of the legal defence team.
The judge arrived before Ejiofor could re-enter the courtroom.
The case was adjourned until January 19 and 20, 2022.
On January 19, 2022, Justice Benson Anya of the Abia State High Court ruled that the 2017 arrest of Kanu was unlawful and an infringement on his human rights and that his abduction and forceful return to Nigeria was “illegal” under local and international laws.
Despite this ruling, Kanu remained under arrest and the trial continued, as the other charges were still discussed and prosecutors added further charges.
On October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja quashed the 15-count terrorism charge the Federal Government had preferred against Kanu.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel led by Justice Jummai Hanatu, discharged and acquitted the IPOB leader of all the allegations against him, even as it ordered his release from detention. Despite this ruling, Kanu was remanded in custody.
On December 15, 2023, however, Nigeria’s Supreme Court overturned the lower court ruling, dismissing the terrorism charges against Kanu.
The Court said Kanu still faces terrorism charges despite the lower court ruling. Kanu, who also holds British citizenship, has already pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In announcing the decision, Justice Garba Mohammed said that although Nigeria’s secret police violated Kanu’s rights during his arrest and extradition from Kenya in 2021, the Court of Appeal was wrong to rule in October last year that the violation was grounds for the dismissal of the charges.
Several thought leaders and serving senators have asked for a political solution, begging President Bola Tinubu to release Kanu, especially as his lawyers have alleged he has developed some health issues while in DSS custody.
Speaking on this solution, Kanu’s counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, stated that Kanu never asked for a political solution.
He said, “He (Kanu) didn’t even speak in court as he did last time. What happened in court on June 19, 2024, was that the judge wanted to find out if the parties, that is, the Nigerian government and Nnamdi Kanu, had considered such an option and she directed the question to me first.
“So, I stated what was the gospel truth – the prosecutor, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), and I had once discussed it briefly, and the SAN confirmed that indeed, we did have such a conversation briefly in court during one of the previous hearings.”
Meanwhile, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Igbo people, has on several occasions called for Kanu’s unconditional release. It stressed that it would lead to peace and harmony and quell the unrest in the South-East.
Before his death, the President-General of Ohanaeze, Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, had begged Tinubu to free Kanu. He said that the Presidential directive for Kanu’s release would reassure the Igbo-speaking states in Nigeria that Tinubu was a listening leader who had the feelings of the people in his heart.
Also speaking, the spokesperson for the group, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said, “It will be the joy of all Igbo people if the Federal Government frees Kanu. It will quell the insecurity in the region and would make Igbo people happy.”
Attempts to reach Nigeria’s Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi, were unsuccessful as his office did not respond to calls put through to it, nor were text messages sent to it responded to as of press time. Also, efforts to get Awomolo proved abortive.
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