The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Wednesday, ruled out Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, presiding over the alleged terrorism-related charges preferred against him by the federal government.
Kanu made his position known during a routine visitation on him by his legal team led by his lead counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, at the headquarters of the State Security Services in Abuja.
Kanu, during the visit, instructed his legal team to “take certain countervailing steps to ensure that his case is not handled by the same Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako who had withdrawn from the case by virtue of the order of recusal entered on 24th September 2024.”
According to Ejimakor via his X, “The routine visitations to Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu continue unabated, as the legal team just concluded a crucial visitation today. The central issue arising at today’s visitation is the upcoming court date for the continuation of MNK’s case.
“The point was stressed that should the case still lie with Justice Murtala-Nyako, it would mean that the same court is disobeying an order that it made. We are therefore looking forward to going to court as long as another judge of the Federal High Court is assigned to the case.
“If no other judge in Abuja is willing to handle the case, the Chief Judge is free to transfer the case to Umuahia, Awka, Enugu, Asaba, Port Harcourt or any other Federal High Court within the former Eastern Nigeria where the offences were alleged to have happened or allegedly had impact.”
Kanu was arrested in Kenya and renditioned to Nigeria in 2021 over alleged terrorism. The UN Opinion Group as well as Nigeria’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court earlier ruled that the manner of Kanu’s arrest in Kenya and his journey to Nigeria violated international laws, amounting to extraordinary rendition.
