FG asks court to dismiss Nnamdi Kanu’s motion over lawyers’ boycott of proceeding

 

 .We didn’t walk out of court, says Ejiofor, lead counsel

.Kanu’s US lawyer to petition ICC over ‘rights abuses’

 

The Federal Government has urged a Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss pending application of leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, following his counsel’s walkout of Wednesday’s sitting.

 

Counsel for the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Abubakar, prayed Justice Binta Nyako, after Kanu’s legal team staged a walkout shortly before the matter commenced.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the AGF had, on Oct. 21, rearraigned Kanu on seven counts as against the five counts he was previously answering to, bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism.

 

However, his counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had informed that a notice of preliminary objection challenging the competency of the fresh charges had been filed and the court fixed Nov. 10 to hear it.

 

However, Ejiofor and other legal team were not in court when the matter was called on Wednesday.

 

When Justice Nyako asked Kanu why his counsel were not in court, he responded that his lawyers protested over the refusal of the Department of States Services (DSS) operatives to allow his American Lawyer, Bruce Fein, from coming into the courtroom.

 

He stated further that even when Fein visited him at the DSS custody, he was denied access.

 

 

 

“I have an ongoing case in the US. I have not been allowed to see him. He is here to see me and to observe the proceedings.

 

 

 

“He has been to the DSS to see me, but they denied him access to me”, Kanu responded from the dock.

 

Nyako asked him if his American lawyer had a practising license in Nigeria and the IPOB leader replied with a negative answer.

 

Against the development, Abubakar, a Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, urged the court to dismiss all the pending applications that were filed by Kanu’s legal team.

 

He reminded that the court had, in the last adjourned date, fixed Nov. 10 to take the defence application.

 

“Having decided to stage a walkout on the court, I urge my lord to dismiss the defendant’s pending applications,” he prayed.

 

But the judge declined to grant the oral application made by prosecuting lawyer.

 

“Staging a walkout on the court is a very serious offence.

 

“I will not dismiss the applications; let them be in the case file. But discuss with your lawyers so that their attitude can change,” the judge told Kanu.

 

Justice Nyako, therefore, stated that individuals seeking to attend the IPOB leader’s trial must write her court for consideration.

 

A diplomat from the British High Commission, who was in the courtroom to observe proceedings, said she had written the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, seeking his consent to attend Wednesday’s sitting.

 

Though the judge allowed the diplomat to be in the courtroom while proceeding lasted, she said: “If you need to observe proceedings in my court, you must apply to me.

 

“But for the high respect I have for my Chief Judge, I will allow you for today.”

 

Justice Nyako then adjourned the matter until Jan. 19 and Jan. 20, 2022, for trial continuation.

However, Bruce Fein, the American lawyer of Nnamdi Kanu, has threatened to drag Nigeria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged gross violation of his client’s rights.

Fein was in court on Wednesday to monitor the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), but he was denied access into the courtroom.

 

Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, Fein said: “Today was the fifth time I was told I could not enter the courtroom despite the court’s previous order that Nnamdi could have access to any three persons he wants to.

 

“I had the chance to talk briefly to him on my way to the courtroom. It is clear that I am the target in particular. That’s the reason why this proceeding did not transpire today.

 

“And I’m here to tell Nigerians and the international community that I’m taking this to international tribunals. It is clear that the Nigerian tribunals are compromised.”

 

The lawyer said he will petition “the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the ICC in the Hague and I’ll be going to the United States Congress and urging that sanctions be considered against Nigeria for gross violations of fundamental human rights”.

 

“I’m here not to be an irritant but there are huge international law issues that are present in Nnamdi Kanu’s case. I’m here because I’m an international expert to provide more enlightenment on what legal issues are present here,” Fein added.

 

Meanwhile, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu’s lead counsel, said the legal team did not walk out of the court, instead, they were locked out.

 

“What happened in the court today is the height of travesty of justice. We have more than 50 lawyers who are here in solidarity so we were outside trying to resolve it,” he said.

 

“When we came to the court, they still insisted that they could not allow the maximum of five persons to have access to the court. And there is space in the court for us to sit.

 

“We were still trying to resolve it when the judge came in and we were all locked out. When attention was called to the fact that we were outside the court protesting about what happened. Instead of the court calling the attention of the lead counsel to find out what is going on, the court discussed with our client.”

 

The court has adjourned the case to January 19, 2022, to hear the application challenging the competence of the charge and jurisdiction of the court.

 

Kanu was on October 21 re-arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism.