The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the case concerning the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, until 14th September.
The case mainly involves the federal government’s appeal challenging last year’s decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing the terrorism and treasonable felony charges against Kanu.
The Biafra secessionist also has pending before the Supreme Court, an application for bail with an alternative prayer for transfer of his custody from the Department of State Security (DSS) to the Kuje correction centre in Abuja.
A five-member panel of Justices led by Justice John Okoro, on Thursday, adjourned the suit despite frantic efforts by Mr Kalu’s legal team to convince the court to hear the case and not to defer it to another date.
The IPoB leader’s lead counsel, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had during the proceedings, urged the court to hear a motion that could help address his client’s fast-deteriorating health conditions in SSS custody.
But the Federal Government’s lawyer, Mr. Tijani Gadzali (SAN) objected to the position, asking for time to file a response to Mr Ozekhome’s reply brief.
The court, swayed by Gadzali’s position, adjourned the case until 27th September.
The panel had on 27th April adjourned the case until Thursday for a hearing of applications that have cropped up in the appeal.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Ozekhome informed reporters after Thursday’s proceedings that he has a pending application seeking the release of Mr Kanu on bail, or an order transferring the detainee from the DSS custody to the Kuje correctional centre in Abuja.
On the IPoB leader’s state of health in DSS custody, Ozekhome said: “I expressed my fear regarding Kanu’s state of health which I described as life-threatening”.
“The court requires an individual to stand trial, not to ‘sit down trial’, ‘lie down trial’ or ‘prostrate trial’, which means that Kanu, with his state of health, cannot stand trial”, the lawyer added.
At its previous sitting, the Supreme Court granted the Federal Government leave to increase its grounds of appeal to 13.
Both the Federal Government’s appeal and Kanu’s application are the two major matters pending at the court for hearing.
