Mike Ozekhome, senior counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says his client is now a free man and
should be allowed to go home.
Ozekhome said this in reaction to the judgment of the appeal
court which discharged Kanu of a seven-count charge preferred against him by
the federal government.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel of the
appellate court, led by Hanatu Sankey, held that the federal government flouted
the Terrorism Act, Extradition Act and also violated international conventions
and treaties guiding extraditions, thus, breaching the rights of the
respondent.
The court further held that having illegally and forcefully
renditioned the appellant, the trial court is stripped of jurisdiction to
continue to try Kanu.
In an interview with Channels Television on Thursday
evening, Ozekhome said: “Nnamdi Kanu is a free man and he should be allowed to
go home tomorrow.”
Reacting to a statement by the AGF which hinted that the
federal government would appeal the verdict of the court of appeal, the senior
lawyer said he would also file a cross-appeal.
Ozekhome also detailed the reasons why the appeal court
struck out the case.
“The single issue
bordering on extraordinary rendition, after he was brutally captured, tortured,
in Kenya blindfolded and extrajudicially rendered back to Nigeria, is what
determined it we put all this first before the court,” he said.
“The federal government had no answer to any of the
allegations. And in law when we make certain factual allegations are they are
not denied, they are deemed admitted.
“So if the federal government wants to pursue trifles,
against a citizen by appealing against such a wall rendered judgement, I can
only wish them good luck.
“But let me also tell the federal government if they appeal
I’m going to file a cross-appeal against two of the issues, which I do not
agree with the court of appeal.
“That is the issue of
the citus of the place of commission of an offence. Section 45 of the federal
high court act, and decisions of the supreme court, make it clear that you can
only try a person in the place where you disclose the venue of the commission
of the crime, the time the circumstances.
“But when you say Nnamdi made a broadcast, from where did he make the broadcast? Is it in the spirit world? Is it the land of the dead? The court of appeal, with all respect, appeared to have glossed over this.”
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