The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has asked the Federal Government to release him, insisting that he has no case to answer.
This was as he failed to open his defence to the seven-count
terrorism charge the Federal Government preferred against him on Tuesday.
Kanu, who is conducting his case by himself, after he
disengaged his team of lawyers, maintained that in the absence of a valid
charge pending before the court, there was no legal basis for him to either
open his defence or to file and exchange a final written address with the
Federal Government..
He urged the judge to take judicial notice of the motion he
filed along with a supporting affidavit, which challenged the jurisdiction of
the court to continue to try him over an offence he said is unknown to any
extant law.
Kanu asked the court to order his immediate release from the
custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, where he has been detained
since 2021.
“You cannot ask me to begin my defence when you have not
stated the law under which I am being charged.
“The records of this court show there is no law backing
these charges. I request to be released. My Lord, please take judicial notice
of all the records before this court,” he added.
The pro-Biafra leader, while citing section 36(12) of the
1999 Constitution, as amended, argued that there was no law to back the charge
against him.
He alleged that the court was violating a Supreme Court
judgment, which according to him condemned his extraordinary rendition from
Kenya by the Federal Government.
When he was reminded that the apex court remitted his case
for a fresh trial, Kanu stood his ground that trying him over a non-existent
crime amounted to a denial of his constitutional rights.
“In Nigeria today, the Constitution is the Supreme law;
there is no provision for terrorism offence in the Constitution. There is no
valid charge against me. I will not go back to any detention today.
“Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act has been repealed.
I cannot put in defense under a repealed law. I won’t do that.
“Tell any lawyer to show me the valid charge. I appeal to
you to please take judicial notice of the repeal of the terrorism charges. I am
not ready to go back to detention today unless I am shown the valid charge
against me.
“I cannot be tried under a law that has been repealed. A law
that is not written in our Constitution. Prosecuting me under a repealed law is
a violation of my fundamental right,” he added.
In his response, the prosecution counsel, Chief Adegboyega
Awomolo, SAN, queried the competence of the documents Kanu served on him,
insisting they lacked probative value and should be discounted by the court.
The Federal Government’s lawyer prayed the court not to
further indulge the defendant, who he said was merely wasting valuable judicial
time.
He urged the court to deem the documents that Kanu recently
filed as his final written address and to order parties to adopt the processes
to enable judgment to be delivered in the matter.
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