BREAKING: Nnamdi Kanu discharged and acquitted by appeal court
Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been discharged and acquitted by an appeal court in Abuja.
He was arrested in June 2021 and extradited to Nigeria.
Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, confirmed the news on his Facebook page on Thursday.
“Appeal allowed, Oyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU, discharged and acquitted. We have won!,” he wrote.
Kanu is being prosecuted by the Federal Government at the Federal High Court in Abuja for 15 count charges including treasonable felony and terrorism, offences he allegedly committed in the course of his separatist campaigns.
A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal said the Federal High Court lacks the jurisdiction to try him in view of his abduction and extraordinary rendition to Nigeria in flagrant violation of the OAU convention and protocol on extradition.
The court held that the 15-count charge preferred against Kanu did not disclose the place, date, time and nature of the alleged offences before being unlawfully extradited to Nigeria in clear violation of international treaties.
The court further held that the Federal Government failed to disclose where Nnamdi Kanu was arrested despite the grave allegations against him.
Kanu had in his appeal dated April 29 and marked CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022, applied to be discharged and acquitted.
Kanu was first arraigned on December 23, 2015 and was later granted bail on April 25, 2017 before he was rearrested in June 2021.
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