Trial judge James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) to remove Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu from the courtroom over his unruly behaviour.
Mr Omotosho gave the order following Mr Kanu’s insistence that the judgement, scheduled for delivery, would not proceed.
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The court then stood down the matter and directed the security officers to remove the IPOB leader from the courtroom.
The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) stood his ground and refused to move out of the courtroom despite the pleadings by the SSS officers for the defendant to comply with the court order.
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Mr Omotosho then stood down the matter and directed the security officers to take him out of the courtroom.
The judge was about to commence proceedings, directing the registrar to call the case, when Mr Kanu stood up and interjected.
“My lord there is no judgment today because we have joined issues in the matter,” Mr Kanu, who was brought to court from the custody of the SSS, said.
The judge responded with a word of caution to the IPOB leader.
“Defendant there is decorum in court. Let the registrar call the matters accordingly,” Mr Omorosho said.
Mr Kanu is facing terrorism charges over his secessionist campaign for the independence of Nigeria’s South-east as Biafra.
On 7 November, the judge fixed Thursday for judgement, after foreclosing Mr Kanu’s defence.
The judge declared Mr Kanu waived his right to put forward his defence after the IPOB leader spurned the judge’s persuasion for weeks to enter defence to counter the prosecution’s case which closed with five witnesses in June.
Mr Kanu stood his ground not to enter any defence on the basis that the terrorism charges instituted against him were invalid because they were brought under a repealed terrorism law.
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Six of the seven charges against Mr Kanu were filed under the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013, amended in 2022. The Biafra agitator claimed the seventh count which has to do with alleged illegal importation of a radio transmitter into Nigeria was ordered by the Supreme Court to be removed.
Mr Kanu, who is standing trial on terrorism charges over his secessionist activities calling for the independence of Nigeria’s Igbo-dominated South-east and some parts of the neighbouring states as Biafra, has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja since June 2021.
The Nigerian government accused him of carrying out terrorist activities, including broadcasting threats and inciting violence and killings in the region, to achieve his secessionist goals.
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