Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has listed former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as one of his defence witnesses in his terrorism trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The Biafra agitator listed Mr Malami among others he wants subpoenaed to appear in court as his witnesses, as he prepares to open his defence.
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The list containing a category of serving and former officials whom Mr Kanu described as compellable witnesses includes Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister; Theophilus Danjuma, a retired lieutenant-general and former Chief of Army Staff (COAS); Tukur Buratai, another retired lieutenant-general and former COAS; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State.
Others are Dave Umahi, Minister of Works; Okezie Ikpeazu, the immediate-past Governor of Abia State; Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, the immediate-past Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Yusuf Bichi, a former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS).
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It is not yet clear how Mr Kanu intends to use their testimonies for his defence or whether the individuals had foreknowledge of the plan to have them summoned to testify in the case.
Mr Kanu, a separatist campaigning for the independence of the Igbo-dominated South-east Nigeria as a sovereign Biafra state, listed the proposed witnesses in a fresh motion he personally submitted to the court on 21 October.
The IPOB leader is standing trial on terrorism charges that stemmed from his violence-inciting separatist campaigns.
The prosecution, which closed its case with five witnesses in June, blamed the killings and destruction of properties in the South-east on Mr Kanu’s inciteful secessionist social media rhetoric.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Kanu’s new application was titled ‘Notice of Number and Names of Witnesses to be Called by the Defendant and Request for Witness Summons/Subpoena and the Variation of the Time Within Which to Defend the Counts/Charges against the Defendant.’
It followed a series of recent developments in the case, including a court ruling in September that dismissed Mr Kanu’s no-case submission and ordered him to present his defence.
A court-ordered medical panel, just last week, declared him fit to stand trial, prompting the judge to schedule Thursday for the IPOB leader to open his defence.
Mr Kanu, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, assured trial judge James Omotosho in his new motion that he was ready to begin his defence as ordered by the court.
Defence plan
In the motion seeking the court’s endorsement to subpoena listed former and serving government officials as witnesses, Mr Kanu said the request was based on the 16 October order of the court “directing the defendant to commence his defence on the 24th day of October 2025.”
He informed the court of his plan to call a total of 23 witnesses divided into two categories.
The first category, he said, would be those he called “ordinary but material witnesses.”
He further informed the court that his second category of witnesses would be “vital and compellable” and shall be “summoned under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.”
He requested that, in view of the number of witnesses he intends to call, the court grant him a 90-day timeframe to enable him to conclude his defence. The court had, in its 16 October ruling, granted him only six consecutive days, beginning from 23 October (Thursday), to open and close his defence.
He told the court that he would “testify on his own behalf, providing a sworn account of the facts, denying the allegations, and explaining the political context of his statements and actions.”
He listed the named former and serving officials under the category of “compellable witnesses”.
The defendant also promised to “provide the sworn statements of all voluntary witnesses to this honourable court, and to notify the prosecution within a reasonable time.”
He assured that “no precious time of the honourable court would be delayed.”
Besides, Mr Kanu assured that “it would interest the honourable court and the general public that justice is not only done but manifestly seen to have been done.”
Objection to trial
Meanwhile, Mr Kanu, earlier on Thursday, filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to continue with his trial.
He had filed the objection the same day (16 October) a team of medical experts empanelled by the court to determine his health status, turned in a report that he was medically fit to stand trial.
The motion preceded the filing of his latest application on 21 October listing his proposed defence witnesses.
It is still not clear if Mr Kanu has given up on the preliminary objection with his latest filing assuring the court of his readiness to present his defence.
The prosecution closed its case after its fifth witness finished testifying on 19 June.
But a series of intervening applications and complaints of ill-health by Mr Kanu stalled his defence from kicking off. The court finally resolved the issues in its 16 October ruling, ordering Mr Kanu to open defence on Thursday (23 October).
On Monday, a protest led by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore in Abuja, called for an unconditional release of Mr Kanu from custody.
During the protest, tagged #FreeNnamdiKanuNow, the police arrested one of Mr Kanu’s defence lawyers, Aloy Ejimakor, and 11 others. Mr Kanu’s brother, Emmanuel Kanu, was among the arrested persons.
The police filed a first information report against the 12 protesters at a magistrate’s court in Kuje, Abuja, on Tuesday, accusing them of disobedience to a lawful order and incitement of public disturbance.
The referenced order was issued in a ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, approving of the protest but prohibiting it in some locations, including the Presidential Villa, the National Assembly, the Court of Appeal, the Police Force Headquarters and the Shehu Shagari Way.
The police said the protesters were arrested on the Shehu Shagari Way, where the court prohibited the protest from taking place.
But Mr Sowore and the protesters insisted that no such court order was formally served on them till when the demonstration began Monday morning.
The magistrate, on Tuesday, ordered Mr Ejimakor and other 11 defendants be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending their arraignment on 24 October.
(NAN)
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