The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has filed an application at the Court of Appeal, praying for a stay of further proceedings in his trial before Justice James Omotosho of Abuja Federal High Court.
In the motion, Kanu urged the Appeal Court to stay delivery of judgment pending the determination of the appeal.
Kanu’s appeal may impact the 20th November date fixed for delivery of judgment in the trial.
He filed the motion on notice in pursuant to section 36(1) of the Nigerian constitution.
Recall that Justice Omotosho had fixed November 20 to deliver judgement in Kanu’s terrorism trial.
But the IPOB had contested the charge, stressing that he can’t be tried on the basis of a repealed law, the terrorism act.
Nnamdi Kanu is a political activist known for advocating for the independence of Biafra from Nigeria. He is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which he founded in 2012.
The main aim of IPOB is to restore the defunct Republic of Biafra which existed in Nigeria’s Eastern Region during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967–1970.
On 28 April 2017, Kanu was released from prison on bail. Nigerian security forces attempted to quash IPOB’s armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, which culminated in a low-level conflict in early 2021. Despite the fighting, Kanu maintained that IPOB was interested in a peaceful solution and achieving Biafran independence without violence or harm. In June 2021, he was widely reported to have been allegedly re-arrested by Interpol in Kenya and handed over to Nigeria but in April 2024, Interpol denied any involvement in the arrest and consequent rendition to Nigeria.
Credit: dailypost.ng
