The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 26 February for a hearing on the resumed trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to the IPOB leader, disclosed this in a post on his X handle (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday.
UPDATE: The case of Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been set down for hearing on Monday, 26th February 2024 before Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako. The Hearing Notice is attached below. pic.twitter.com/ElFgdeB3gn
— aloy ejimakor (@AloyEjimakor) February 8, 2024
The case which started in 2015 had been put on hold at the Federal High Court in Abuja after the Court of Appeal dismissed the terrorism charges against Nnamdi Kanu in October 2022.
But the Nigerian government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, had appealed the court judgment and subsequently obtained an order at the Supreme Court staying the execution of the judgment
The Supreme Court on 15 December 2023 ordered the continuation of Nnamdi Kanu’s trial on terrorism charges at the Abuja court.
Background
Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader, was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on 13 October 2022, held that the IPOB leader was extra-ordinarily renditioned to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the country’s extradition treaty and also a breach of his fundamental human rights.
The court, therefore, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government and ordered his release from the facility of the State Security Service.
But the Nigerian government refused to release the IPOB leader, insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings if released and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-east, where he comes from.
The government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, later appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the court judgment at the Supreme Court
Delivering judgment on the appeal on 15 December, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered the continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.
The resumed trial complies with the order of the Supreme Court.