The Federal Government has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail granted the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who is being prosecuted along with others on treasonable felony charges.
An application seeking the revocation was made available to the press on Friday by the Special Assistant to the Attorney-General of the Federation on Media and Publicity, Mr. Salihu Isah.
Kanu had, earlier in his application filed on July 1, 2017, urged the court to vary the conditions of the bail granted him on April 25, 2017.
But the Federal Government hinged its fresh motion seeking the revocation of Kanu’s bail on the grounds that the IPOB leader had flouted the terms and conditions of the bail.
Justice Binta Nyako had, in her ruling delivered on April 25, granted bail to Kanu, but dismissed the separate bail applications filed by his co-defendants — the National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu, and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David Nwawuisi.
In his application filed on July 1, 2017, Kanu maintained that parts of the bail conditions prohibiting him from being seen in a crowd exceeding 10 persons, granting press interviews and holding or attending rallies violated his constitutional rights.
But the Federal Government, in its fresh application, asked the court to revoke the bail granted Kanu and order his immediate arrest by the police.
The Federal Government’s counter-affidavit filed in support of the motion and deposed to by a litigation clerk in the Office of the Director Public Prosecutions, pieced together Kanu’s alleged acts of serial violation of the bail conditions imposed by the court.
It maintained that Kanu had flagrantly violated all the bail conditions.
It stated that the essence of the bail, which was for Kanu to look after his health, had been defeated.
According to the prosecution, instead of using the opportunity of his bail to attend to his health needs, Kanu went ahead to inaugurate a security outfit known as the Biafra Security Service.
The prosecution said this constituted a threat to national security.
It also cited an instance of how Kanu allegedly incited his followers “to disrupt, disallow and boycott elections in South East states, starting with Anambra State governorship election scheduled to hold on November 18, 2017, if the Federal Government failed to hold a referendum for the realisation of the state of Biafra nation.”
