Lawyers yesterday said the bail bond entered by Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe and two others who stood as sureties for the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu cannot be recovered under the law even as the fleeing Biafra agitator showed up in an Abuja High Court after being arrested and brought back into the country on Sunday by the Federal Government.
The lawyers, who spoke with New Telegraph, premised their submission on the arrest of Kanu by the FG and subsequent presentation to court after the six months the court gave had expired. The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had in November 2018 ordered Senator Abaribe and two others who stood as sureties for Kanu, to temporarily forfeit the N100 million they each put down as bail bond. Justice Binta Nyako also ordered that the N100 million bail bond should be converted into cash and deposited with the registrar of the court. The court ordered that the money should be paid within two months of the order and would be permanently forfeited if after six months they are unable to produce the IPOB leader to face his trial. In his reaction, a Public Interest Lawyer, Dr. Abdul Mahmud said in as much as there is a pending court judgment which Abaribe and others have not challenged.
“The order of court directing that the bail bond should be forfeited after six months is still pending and it cannot be reversed outside another order of court of competent jurisdiction. “The court has a final say on this. But I think Abaribe can’t still go back to court to file for an extension of time to challenge the order of permanent forfeiture,” he said. A law lecturer, Abiodun Adeleye in his own reaction submitted that in as much the time given to Abaribe has elapsed and yet he did not produce Kanu then, he (Abaribe) stands to forfeit his N100 million. “A court order stands until it is set aside by a superior court. In this matter, to the best of my knowledge, no superior court has set aside the judgement of his Lordship, Binta Nyako. “The judgement was delivered in 2018 and this 2021.
It has been almost three years after. Abaribe and two others cannot go back to the court to challenge the order. “What stops them is the time as contained in the judgment. “Also, the return of Kanu with the information available in the public domain is not linked to them. “In my own opinion, the N100 million bail bond which must have been converted to cash is permanently forfeited,” he explained. Kanu was arrested in 2015 on an 11-count charge bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony. Six of the charges, including that of terrorism, were struck out early in 2017.
Senator Abaribe, a Jewish priest, Emmanuel Shallon-Ben and Tochukwu Uchendu had stood as sureties for Kanu on April 24, 2017, after the court granted him bail on health grounds. This was after spending 11 months in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS). In granting Kanu bail, Justice Nyako asked him to produce three sureties with N100 million each. Nyako said one of the sureties must be a senior highly placed person of Igbo extraction such as a Senator. She held that the other surety must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Kanu said his religion was Judaism, while the third person must be a highly respected person who owns landed property and is resident in Abuja.
Court remands IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu in DSS custody …fixes July 26 for continuation of trial
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday ordered the remand of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS). The trial Judge, Justice Binta Nyako gave the remand order based on an application filed by the Federal Government.
The court subsequently fixed July 26 to resume the trial. Earlier, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) had briefed Judiciary Correspondents that Kanu was arrested outside the country by the Interpol and brought back to Nigeria on Sunday.
At the resumed trial, counsel to the FG, S. M. Labaran informed the court that Kanu was arrested through intelligence and collaborative efforts of security agencies. Following Labaran’s exparte application, the court ordered that Kanu, who was brought to court in handcuffs and hooded, be remanded in the custody of the DSS.
Justice Nyako, however, granted an accelerated hearing by bringing the charge pending against him from the earlier adjourned date of October 20 to July 26 and 27. At the conclusion of proceedings, the DSS operatives who brought him to court sneaked him away, using the judge’s access stairs. Malami, who addressed the press in company of the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and spokesman of the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunnaya, did not, however, specify the particular location where Kanu was arrested.
He however, disclosed that Kanu would be tried on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society. He alleged that it was his inciting broadcasts that led to loss of lives and destruction of properties in the South-East region of the country.
(New Telegraph)
