FG Opposes Nnamdi Kanu’s No Case Submission As Court Adjourns Ruling
The Federal Government (FG) has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a no-case submission filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), insisting that he has a case to answer in the terrorism charge brought against him.
FG’s lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, told Justice James Omotosho that Kanu’s actions and statements posed a direct threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty and public safety.
He said the IPOB leader had, in a broadcast on Radio Biafra, openly declared his intention to break up the country and create a separate Republic of Biafra.
Awomolo described the broadcast as a deliberate and dangerous incitement, not mere political statement. He alleged that Kanu’s speech instilled fear across the country and included directives to his followers to attack security personnel, which allegedly led to the death of over 170 officers.
“The defendant boasted that the world would come to a standstill because of his actions. He made that broadcast knowing IPOB had been proscribed, yet he declared himself its leader,” Awomolo told the court.
“His words were not idle talk, they were meant to threaten the peace and unity of Nigeria,” he added.
He urged the court to reject Kanu’s no-case submission and compel him to open his defence, insisting that the application was “misplaced and misconceived.”
But Kanu’s lead counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, countered that the prosecution failed to link his client to any act of terrorism.
He said the five witnesses presented by the government who were all operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), merely took statements and did not testify to being incited or witnessing any incitement.
Agabi pointed out that the charges against Kanu had been amended eight times, yet no victim or independent witness was brought forward to support the government’s allegations.
He argued that Kanu’s statements were exaggerated political speech and not actionable threats.
“Urging people to defend themselves is a constitutional right,” Agabi said, referencing similar statements made by respected national figures, including retired General T.Y. Danjuma.
Agabi also condemned the prolonged solitary confinement of Kanu, claiming it violates international human rights standards, which prohibit such confinement beyond 15 days.
He urged the court to find that no prima facie case had been established and to acquit Kanu accordingly.
After hearing both sides, Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter until October 10 for ruling on the no-case submission.
FG Opposes Nnamdi Kanu’s No Case Submission As Court Adjourns Ruling is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
