Malami says Nnamdi Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted so they may file fresh charges

NIGERIA'S attorney-general Abubakar Malami has hinted that the federal government will not release Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu as ordered by the Court of Appeal yesterday but rather would file fresh charges against him.

Yesterday, Nigeria's Court of Appeal declared Nnamdi Kanu's detention illegal and unlawful and quashed the terrorism charges brought against him by the federal government. In a judgment delivered by Justice Oludotun Adefope-Okojie, the criminal charges by the federal government against Mr Kanu were thus voided and set aside.

According to the court, the federal government, having flagrantly breached the fundamental rights of Mr Kanu, lost the legal right to put him on trial. Also, the court held that laws are meant to be obeyed and that the federal government has no reason to have taken laws into her own hand in the illegal and unlawful way the matter of Mr Kanu was handled.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu 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. His campaign, which has led to the phenomenal growth of Ipob, has set him at odds with the Nigerian government who him arrested and put on trial for treason.

While the case was still pending, Mr Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds but skipped his bail after flouting the conditions given to him by the court and fled Nigeria. In a dramatic development, in June last year, Mr Kanu was abducted in Kenya and flown to Nigeria, where he has since been arrayed in court in Abuja, with fresh charges added to the pending ones.

Successfully, appealing his abduction in Kenya, Mr Kanu was looking forward to be released after the Court of Appeal upheld the judgement of the lower court. However, Mr Malami said that he was only discharged and not acquitted.

Dr Umar Gwandu, spokesman Mr Malami’s spokesman, said:  “The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has received the news of the decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the trial of Nnamdi Kanu. For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.

“Consequently, the appropriate legal options before the authorities will be exploited and communicated accordingly to the public. The decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issue that borders on rendition.

“Let it be made clear to the general public that other issues that predate rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination. The federal government will consider all available options open to us on the judgment on rendition while pursuing determination of pre-rendition issues."