Nnamdi Kanu to spend Christmas behind bars as his case gets postponed until January 19

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has had his case postponed to January 19 next year after his lawyers boycotted today's hearing in protest over the fact that one of their foreign colleagues was not allowed into court.

Facing a plethora of charges including treason, Mr Kanu was abducted by Nigerian security agents in Kenya earlier this year and is currently being held by the Department of State Services (DSS). This morning, Mr Kanu appeared in court but the case was not heard as his legal team led by Ifeanyi Ejiofor, chose to stay away to protest the refusal of security operatives to permit a foreign lawyer into the courtroom.

Although Mr Ejiofor and other lawyers had earlier entered the court, they left when information got to them that the foreign counsel would not be allowed in. Justice Binta Nyako, who was hearing the case, then adjourned the matter when it became obvious that the lawyers would not come back.

Mr Kanu has subsequently  been returned to the custody of the DSS, who have been asked to produce him on January 19 and 20 2022. Ipob has been campaigning for the recreation of the independent republic of Biafra which broke away from Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970 during the civil war.