Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, has spoken on the ruling of the Court of Appeal in Abuja discharging Mr Kanu.
Kanu had in his appeal dated April 29 applied to be discharged and acquitted. He was first arraigned on December 23, 2015, and was later granted bail on April 25, 2017. After the military raided his home later that year, he went missing only to be brought back to Nigeria last year on controversial circumstances.
A three-man panel of the Appeal Court said the Federal High Court in Abuja where the government filed charges against Kanu lacks the jurisdiction to try him in view of his abduction and extraordinary rendition to Nigeria in flagrant violation of the OAU convention and protocol on extradition.
The appellate court also ruled that the 15-count charge preferred against Kanu did not disclose the place, date, time and nature of the alleged offences before being unlawfully extradited to Nigeria in clear violation of international treaties.
The court noted that the act of abduction and extraordinary rendition of Kanu from Kenya without due process is a violation of his right.
It added that the manner in which Nnamdi Kanu was procured and brought before the court was not evaluated by the lower court, before assuming jurisdiction to try him.
Reacting to the judgment, Ejiofor wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday that Kanu won at last.
“Appeal allowed, Oyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU, discharged and acquitted. We have won!” he wrote.
