Nigerian separatist acquitted – Lawyers Nigeria | Tellwell Newspaper
Tellwell Newspaper, Abuja – Nigeria:
Lawyers representing Nigerian separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu said Thursday that a fresh ruling by a court of appeal had acquitted and discharged him, though for now he remains in custody.
However, the Nigerian government faulted the lawyers’ claim, saying Kanu was only discharged on the issue of his rendition, which was what Kanu challenged at the appellate court.
The ruling referred to his arrest abroad and transfer to Nigeria, a process which his lawyers had argued was illegal and thus invalidated his prosecution.
“Extraordinary rendition is a barrier to the trial of Nnamdi Kanu,” one of his lawyers, Aloy Ejimakor tweeted.
“He’s therefore discharged of all charges.”
Kanu is the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group, which campaigns for a separate state for the Igbo people in southeast Nigeria.
A British citizen, he was arrested in 2015 but jumped bail two years later, reappearing later in the UK and Israel.
In June, Nigeria’s attorney general Abubakar Malami announced that Kanu had been brought back to Nigeria to face terrorism and treason charges. Kanu’s family and lawyers said he was illegally brought into the country from Kenya.
On Thursday, two of his lawyers, Ejimakor and Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said a court of appeal in the capital Abuja had acquitted and discharged him.
“Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU, discharged and acquitted. We have won!” Ejiofor wrote on his Facebook page.
Ejimakor, confirmed the ruling to AFP.
“He was discharged of all charges,” Ejimakor said in a text message. “Processing his release will start tomorrow.”
It was unclear on Thursday whether Kanu would be released from custody.
In a short statement after the ruling, Nigeria’s justice ministry insisted the appeal court did not acquit the IPOB separatists leader from the charges of sedition and terrorism against him before a federal high court.
“For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the Court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted,” the justice ministry said in the statement.
“The decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issues that borders on rendition…other issues that predates rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination.
“The Federal Government will consider all available options open to us on the judgment on rendition while pursuing determination of pre-rendition issues,” the statement further said.
Calls for autonomy are especially sensitive in Nigeria, where a civil war in the 1960s left around one million people dead from fighting and starvation.
Tensions in the southeast are still present, with occasional attacks against security forces and government offices.
Police have blamed IPOB’s military wing, the Eastern Security Network or ESN, but the group denies any involvement in the violence.
With reports from AFP
