A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, fixed 20 November for judgement in the trial of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on alleged terrorism offences.
Justice James Omotosho fixed the date after Kanu’s defence was foreclosed following his insistence that he would not enter his defence under a repealed law.
The trial judge ruled: ‘This court has given opportunity to the defendant under Section 36 as required by the constitution, and I will not allow this to continue.
‘It is based on this, without hesitation, that I say that the defendant has waived his right’.
When his trial resumed on Friday, after it was adjourned on Wednesday, Kanu told the court that he had an important court process to file, which he said he had not been allowed to do.
The trial judge then ordered that the court’s registry be temporarily relocated to the courtroom to allow Kanu to complete the filing.
The court gave Kanu about one hour to file his documents.
The lawyer to the Federal Government, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court he would accept the documents from Kanu and respond accordingly.
Before now, Kanu had refused to open his defence, insisting he had ‘no case to answer’.
The Federal Government has been prosecuting Kanu on seven charges, mostly terrorism-related, since 2015.
The charges stemmed from his alleged violent secessionist campaigns for the independence of the Igbo-dominated South-eastern part of Nigeria as Biafra Republic.
But, Kanu, a dual Nigerian and British citizen, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
After the prosecution closed its case with five witnesses in June, Kanu filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution failed to lead credible evidence against him to warrant putting forward any defence.
However, in September, the judge dismissed the no-case submission, ruling that Kanu had a case to answer and should enter his defence.
Since then, several proceedings had been scheduled for the separatist leader to start his defence after he suddenly disengaged his lawyers and told the court that he would defend himself.
The case was adjourned several times in the past month to keep the window of defence open, while Kanu continued to maintain that there is no valid charge against him to defend.
Following Kanu’s insistence that the charges were invalid, Justice Omotosho, on Wednesday, reminded him of the need to keep his ‘gun powder dry’ for his defence.
Kanu said he would need to consult with his four legal consultants, whom he named as Nnaemeka Ejiofor, Aloy Ejimakor, Maxwell Okpara and Mandela Umegborogu, after which the case was adjourned to Friday (today).
