Kanu: Court drama as judge steps down

Detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu

The resumed hearing in the terrorism trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was fraught with drama on Tuesday, with the separatist shouting down his lawyer and demanding that the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, recuse herself from the case over alleged bias.

Kano, who is facing seven counts before the Federal High Court in Abuja, accused Justice Nyako of disregarding a verdict of the Supreme Court in the case, saying he, therefore, no longer had confidence in the judge.

In response to Kanu’s accusation in the open court, the judge said she would be recusing herself from the case and send the case file to the Chief Judge of the court for reassignment to another judge.

“I hereby recuse myself and remit the case file back to the Chief Judge,” the judge declared.

An attempt by Kanu’s lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, to intervene was met with a violent shout by the IPOB leader, yelling, “Sit down! I say you should sit down!”

Addressing the judge directly, Kanu said, “My Lord, I have no confidence in this court anymore, and I ask you to recuse yourself because you did not abide by the decision of the Supreme Court.

“I can understand it if the DSS refused to obey a court order, but for this court to refuse to obey an order of the Supreme Court is regrettable. I am asking you to recuse yourself from this case.”

However, the prosecution counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), urged Justice Nyako to disregard Kanu’s claim of disobeying a Supreme Court order and proceed with the hearing.

“My Lord, you should not recuse yourself on the basis of this mere observation, which does not have anything to do with the Supreme Court. It is an incompetent observation. We urge this court to proceed with the hearing,” Awomolo said.

But Kanu vehemently objected, waving a copy of a document in his hand, which he said was a copy of the subsisting judgment of the Supreme Court.

He proceeded to read a part that said the actions of the trial court rendered the impartiality of the judge suspect.

He also tried to explain to the judge that his objection to her presiding over his matter was not personal but that he was now fed up with the trial, which, according to him, was at variance with constitutional provisions.

Declaring her stance on the matter, Justice Nyako declared: “I hereby recuse myself and remit the case file back to the Chief Judge.”

Kanu was first arrested on October 14, 2015, following his return to Nigeria from the U K and was later granted bail in 2017 on health grounds after being detained at the Kuje correctional facility.

Kanu later fled the country following a raid by the military on his home and moved back to the United Kingdom but was later re-arrested in Kenya in 2011 and brought back to Nigeria.

His his re-arrested and repatriation to the country, he has been detained in the custody of the Department of State Services.

His repeated applications for fresh bail have been turned down by Justice Nyako.