By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has set free the leader of the Indeginous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, of the treasonable felony charges preferred against him by the Federal Government.
The three-member panel of Justices of the Appellate Court, in a judgement delivered on Thursday, set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which quashed eight out of 15-count charges against Kanu.
The appellate court agreed with counsel to the IPOB leader, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), that Kanu was illegally abducted and extra-ordinarily renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria, against both, International and local laws.
“By the illegal abduction and extra- ordinary rendition of the appellant, there was a clear violation of the respondent to International treaties, conventions, as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right”, the court held.
The panel also held that the trial court lacks jurisdiction to handle the charges against Kanu, as he was not properly arraigned before the court.
The panel, presided by Justice Jummai Hanatu, also held that the offences Kanu was alleged to have committed happened in Kenya and not in Nigeria.
Justice Nyako had said, in her judgement, that counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 15 showed some allegations, which the IPOB leader had to answer.
But Kanu, through his team of lawyers led by Mike Ozekhome (SAN), filed an appeal marked CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022, praying the court to quash the remaining seven counts for lacking of merit.
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