An Appeal Court judgment of October 13 discharged and acquitted the IPOB leader, after declaring that Kanu's rendition from Kenya by the Nigerian government was illegal.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu through his legal team has appealed the Court of Appeal’s reversed judgment which granted an application filed by the Nigerian government to retain him in detention.
An Appeal Court judgment of October 13 discharged and acquitted the IPOB leader, after declaring that Kanu's rendition from Kenya by the Nigerian government was illegal.
But on Monday, the appellate court, led by Justice Haruna Tsanami, granted the application for a stay of execution filed by the Nigerian government pending the hearing and determination of an appeal before the supreme court.
Delivering a ruling on the application for a stay of execution of the October 13 judgment filed by the government, Justice Tsanami ruled that Kanu should remain in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The appellate court, however, ordered the government to, within seven days, transmit the record of the appeal and its verdict on the matter to the apex court to enable speedy determination of the case.
But Kanu's lead lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor had announced that Kanu gave the legal team permission to appeal the reversed judgment of the Appellate Court.
The legal team in its appeal on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to set aside the ruling of the Appellate Court which granted the government's stay of execution of its previous judgment.
Ground One of the appeal reads, "The court below erred in law when it proceeded to hear and determine an application for stay of execution of judgement in a criminal appeal, brought under Order 6 Rule 1 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021, and Section 17 of the Court of Appeal Act of 2004, and thereby occasioned a miscarriage of justice."
Kanu's lead lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, in a statement on Thursday, said, “We are therefore by this medium, informing the general public, and Umuchineke in particular, that we have filed an appeal against the said Ruling of the Court of Appeal delivered on the 28th day of October, 2022, and will proactively follow up on the administrative process to ensure that both appeals are given accelerated hearing in line with the extant Fast Track Rules of the Supreme Court.
“We shall keep everyone abreast of the development in the appeals as we progress. We respectfully urge you all to still remain peaceful and law-abiding, as always, and be rest assured that the Ruling of the Court of Appeal now appealed against will be reviewed on merit by learned Justices of the Supreme Court."