Sopuruchi Onwuka

Federal High Court in Abuja has agreed that government might be exploiting court processes to extend the detention of leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. It also thrashed new ammeded charges in order to progress with hearing of the case.

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The court prided by Justice Binta Nyako Wednesday struck out the amended charges of treasonable felony trumped up against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the Federal Ministry of Justice in an open hearing heralding a major change that allows transparent hearing of the case.

Justice Nyako thrashed the new charges against Nnamdi Kanu following a spate of legal fireworks in the courtroom which led to the withdrawal of the amended charges by the Prosecution counsel, Mr. K. E. Kaswe.

Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, who led the defence team of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had accused the government of deliberately frustrating the speedy determination of the case and delaying the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on bail. He said the amended charges were deliberately served late to the defence team with the intention of buying time.

Chief Ozekhome told the court that the prosecution team charge served the amended charges about 48 hours to the hearing of the case, pointing at some fresh issues in the amended charge and additional evidence not originally in the case.

He also noted that some of the supporting evidences in the amended charges were outrightly out of place.

Chief Ozekhome cited one of the attachments in which, he said, pictures of lawyers waiting to have a meeting with the defendant at the DSS facility, were snapped with secret camera and displayed.

“The fact that the court sustained only seven counts in the previous charge and they have now reduced it to six counts, means that the charge has already been altered”, Ozekhome submitted, arguing that it was wrong for the prosecution to insist on proceeding with trial, without arraigning the defendant afresh.

In caving in to the position of the defence lawyers, the prosecution team applied to withdraw the amended charge to enable the matter to proceed on trial. And the presiding judge subsequently struck out the amended charges.

Wednesday’s hearing of Mazi nnamdi Kanu’s case was conducted in the presence of media representatives, a deviation from government’s earlier rejection of media coverage of the trial. Journalists, lawyers and other litigant were permitted to witness the hearing after due identification and clearance by security agents.

The Oracle Today reports that the legal defence team of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is immediately preoccupied with securing the release of the IPOB leader on bail after President Muhammdu Buhari had declined demands by Igbo leaders to intervene with political resolution of the matter.