On October 13, a three-man panel of Appeal Court judges ruled that the rendition of Kanu from Kenya in June 2021 by the Nigerian government was illegal, hence, the court quashed all the treasonable felony charges pressed against the IPOB leader by the government and ordered his immediate and unconditional release from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has insisted that the reversed ruling by the Court of Appeal that granted the Nigerian government application on stay of execution of its October 13 judgment has not let the government off the hook.
On October 13, a three-man panel of Appeal Court judges ruled that the rendition of Kanu from Kenya in June 2021 by the Nigerian government was illegal, hence, the court quashed all the treasonable felony charges pressed against the IPOB leader by the government and ordered his immediate and unconditional release from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
However, the Nigerian government through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Abubakar Malami, rejected the Appeal Court judgment and applied for a stay of execution of the ruling while it appealed the appellate court ruling at the Supreme Court.
On Friday, October 28, Justice Haruna Tsanammi of the Appeal Court granted the government’s application and ordered that Kanu should remain in detention.
On Monday, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu’s lead counsel said that actions were being taken to appeal the reversed ruling of the Court of Appeal which granted the Nigerian government’s application to retain the IPOB leader in detention despite its previous judgment.
And on Thursday, Ejimakor insisted that the Nigerian government is not off the hook yet as regards the Appeal Court judgment favouring Kanu.
“Let it be clear that the Nigerian govt. is not let off the hook by the stay of execution granted by the Appeal Court. The March 2018 continental decision, the Jan. 2022 Umuahia judgment, the July 2022 UN Opinion & the Oct. 2022 Umuahia judgment are still valid & subsisting. Yes!” he said.