Kanu at the court on earlier today
Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja has withdrawn from presiding over the suit instituted by Nigeria’s Federal Government against the prisoner of conscience and leader of the pro-Biafra movement, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu over alleged treason and felony.
The judge withdrew from the matter on Wednesday after Kanu questioned the court’s integrity to do justice in the charges brought against him by the government, maintaining that the court had not been able to enforce its own orders which the federal government had repeatedly disobeyed following his ordeal in the custody of the State Security Services (SSS).
Kanu, who was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Wednesday, told the court before commencement of the prosecution’s plea that he preferred detention to being subjected to a trial which its outcome would not be respected.
He said his previous trials had various outcomes that were abused or neglected by the office of the State Security Service, SSS.
Kanu therefore stated his objection to the trial in the court. The counsel to the prosecution, who is also the Federal Director of Prosecution, office of the Attorney General, Mohamed Diri, told the court that based on section 396 (2) of the constitution, the defendant had no right to object to being tried by the court until after the plea is heard.
But the judge said he was standing down from the case, noting that Mr. Kanu had the right to reject the trial, “after all justice is rooted on confidence”. “If any of the parties has no confidence in the court, he has the right to say so”, Mr. Mohammed ruled.
Justice Mohammed noted that the prosecution would have done the same thing if they were in Kanu’s shoes. “Assuming it was the prosecution, if they had no confidence in the court of jurisdiction; would they not have done so?” “I hereby remit the case file to the honourable chief judge of this court to reassign it,” the judge said.
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