Ipob leader Nnamdi Kanu declared wanted after Abuja federal high court revokes his bail

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has been declared wanted after a warrant for his arrest was issued by an Abuja federal high court following the revocation of the bail he was granted two years ago.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu has campaigned for the creation of an independent nation state for Nigeria's 18m Igbos and used to run a radio station broadcasting hard-hitting propaganda. Based in the UK, Mr Kanu ran an unregistered radio station in Nigeria, for which he was arrested during a visit in October 2015.

After being held in detention for a year and a half, Mr Kanu was released on bail in April 2017 by Justice Binta Nyako under strict conditions which included that he does not engage in any political activity. However, as soon as he was released, Mr Kanu defied the conditions, holding daily rallies at his house in Umuahia and travelled across Igboland spreading his message.

Fearful of his actions, the Nigerian government stepped up the military presence around Mr Kanu and fearful that he might be arrested, he fled the country in September 2017. Since then, Mr Kanu has since showed up in Israel but has refused to attend any of the court appearances as the case against him remains ongoing.

Mr Kanu was facing 11 charges, including treasonable felony, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms. However, in march 2017, Justice Nyako dismissed six of the charges, so the Ipob leader still has five cases to answer to in court.

Following Mr Kanu's refusal to honour court invitations, at today's hearing, Justice Nyako revoked the bail granted him on April 25 2017 and ordered his arrest. She then directed that the proceedings of the trial will still continue even in Mr Kanu's absence.

It is unlikely that Mr Kanu will return to Nigeria soon, however, as he is believed to be shuttling between the UK and Israel at the moment. On October 19 last year, Mr Kanu was first sighted in Jerusalem at the Wailing Wall and made a Facebook broadcast on October 21 where he said he left Nigeria because he could not get the necessary protection from the court.

After he absconded, Mr Kanu’s three sureties who each came up with a bond of N100m each have been involved in a legal battle to prove why they should not forfeit their bail bond to the federal government. They include Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, a Jewish priest named Emmanuel Shalom and accountant Tochukwu Uchendu.

Justice Nyako affirmed that the court had separated Mr Kanu’s trial from that of the other defendants since March 20, 2018. She then adjourned Mr Kanu’s trial to June 18 for the continuation of the hearing.