Kanu’s lawyers allege access denial, threaten to boycott trial
The legal team of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has warned that they may boycott court proceedings due to perceived injustices against their client.
They stated that they would not participate in the proceedings if the IPOB leader’s right to a fair trial was not respected by the Department of State Services.
The IPOB leader, who faces treason and terrorism charges, has been in the DSS’ custody since 2021.
He had applied to be granted bail based on health grounds and to enable him to prepare for trial, but his application was rejected by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Justice Nyako instead promised an accelerated hearing of the matter.
Kanu’s trial is expected to commence on April 17, 2024.
But his legal team, led by Alloy Ejimakor, has been addressing journalists on the difficulty they have been facing preparing the IPOB leader for trial.
On April 9, 2024, during a press conference in Abuja, Ejimakor accused the DSS of denying them access to their client.
He also accused the service of constantly seizing every legal document they took to the DSS facility to prepare Kanu for trial.
At another press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Ejimakor said they would pull out of the trial should the DSS continue to frustrate their efforts to prepare Kanu for his trial.
Ejimakor claimed that the actions of the DSS were denying the IPOB leader his right to a fair trial.
He said the legal team would not be a part of such a process should it continue.
Ejimakor said, “This legal team is not going to be part of the travesty of justice. If Nnamdi Kanu is not going to get a fair trial, this legal team is not going to be part of murdering justice in a Nigerian court. It doesn’t mean we are going to abandon Kanu but we will, as a group, abandon the process. we will refuse to be participants in a process that is geared to and preprogrammed for injustice on the head of Kanu.
“Let that be clear. It doesn’t sound like we are going to boycott Kanu but you can say we are boycotting the judiciary and what we are boycotting is manifest injustice.”
Efforts to get the DSS’ spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, proved abortive, as his phone line indicated ‘busy’ on repeated attempts.
He had also yet to respond to a message requesting his reaction to the allegations levelled against the DSS as of the time of filling this report.
