By Patrick Wemambu
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he has no case to answer in the terrorism and treasonable felony charges filed against him by the Federal Government.
His response came shortly after the government closed its case by presenting five witnesses, the last of whom testified behind a protective screen.
The government ended its presentation of evidence after the fifth witness, identified only as EEE, gave his account.
The witness, an officer from the Department of State Services (DSS), claimed he gathered intelligence on violence linked to the EndSARS protests and submitted a report that associated Kanu’s radio broadcasts with the deaths of 186 police officers and the destruction of 164 police stations.
He admitted to the court that he had never met Kanu personally.Following this, the lead counsel for the prosecution told the court that the government would not be calling any more witnesses.
Kanu’s legal team immediately notified the court of their intention to file a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to present enough evidence to justify continuing the trial.
The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, gave both parties 14 days each to submit their written arguments and two additional days for replies.
The matter was adjourned until July 18 for adoption of the no-case submission.
In a related development, Kanu addressed Nigerians through an open letter where he accused both the executive and the judiciary of using unfair tactics to keep him in custody.
He recalled various past judgments, including one from 2017 that ruled IPOB was not an unlawful group, and another from 2022 which described his arrest in Kenya and return to Nigeria as a breach of his fundamental rights.
Kanu criticised the government for not appealing some of these rulings and instead resorting to secret legal steps. He also raised concerns over how his bail was revoked and how the Supreme Court later stated the revocation showed bias.
Despite this, the High Court did not reinstate his bail when the case was returned to it.
He noted that a judge who once handled his case had recused herself, yet the case was reassigned to her.
According to him, this reflects a deliberate plan to keep him from getting fair treatment.
Kanu was first arrested in 2015 and later granted bail in 2017. He left the country after a military raid on his home. In 2021, he was arrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria.
Since then, he has remained in DSS custody. Several charges against him have been dismissed in the past, but seven charges remain active following a Supreme Court decision in December 2023 allowing the trial to proceed.
