A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed an application
for bail filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB).
Binta Nyako, the judge, in her ruling on Tuesday, described
the application as an abuse of court process having been previously denied.
Kanu was re-arraigned on an amended 15-count charge
bordering on treasonable felony.
However, on April 8, the judge struck out eight of the
15-count charge.
While counts 6,7,9,10,11,12,13 and 14 were struck out, the
defendant is to stand trial on counts 1,2,3,4,5,8 and 15.
The court had on May 18 refused to grant Kanu bail, stating
that the application is premature.
Instead, Nyako had asked the defendant to address the court
on why he jumped bail for over four years.
In a fresh bail application argued by Mike Ozekhome, Kanu
challenged the revocation of the bail earlier granted to him.
He prayed the court to set aside the order which not only
issued a warrant for his arrest but also gave the federal government the nod to
try him in absentia.
Contrary to the federal government’s claim that he jumped
bail, the IPOB leader told the court that he ran for his safety after troops
attacked his hometown of Afaraukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia state, which he
claimed resulted in the deaths of 28 persons.
But the judge held that she was not satisfied with the
reasons averred by the defendant.
She said the records of the court show that Kanu was
represented by his lawyer and sureties on the day his bail was revoked.
“In fact, he sureties told the court that they did not know
the whereabouts of the defendant and even applied to be discharged from the
matter.
“Therefore, the defendant was not denied a fair hearing.”
She said though the court has powers to vacate its previous
order when confronted with a cogent and verifiable reason, “in the instant
case, I have not been given any, neither have I been given any reason to set
aside the order”.
“The present
application amounts to an abuse of court process for attempting to relitigate
an issue already decided by the court.
“If the defendant is dissatisfied, he has the appeal court
to go to.
“This application is
accordingly dismissed.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com