Supreme Court Decides Nnamdi Kalu’s Fate Today

The Supreme Court will today deliver its judgement on the appeal seeking to compel the federal government to release the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.

The apex court in October fixed the date after counsel for both the federal government and the detained IPOB leader adopted their final briefs of argument.

Counsel to the IPOB leader, Mike Ozehkome (SAN), who argued the appeal, prayed the court to not only order the immediate release of his client from detention but to equally award very heavy and punitive costs against the federal government.

Recall that on October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal Abuja delivered a judgement ordering Kanu’s release from detention.

The court ruled that he was abducted, ill-treated, and “illegally moved” from Kenya to Nigeria to face treason and terrorism charges.

The judges dismissed the criminal case but Nigerian prosecutors have appealed the ruling, while Kanu remains in custody.

In his submission, however, the counsel to the federal government, Tijani Gazzali, urged the apex court to uphold the amended brief of argument he filed on May 3, 2023.

He prayed the court to allow the federal government’s appeal to set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal which ordered Kanu’s release, and order the resumption of his trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on terrorism-related charges.

Gazzali further urged the apex court to dismiss Kanu’s cross-appeal.

The IPOB leader was first arrested in 2015 but jumped bail two years later, reappearing in the UK and Israel.