The Federal Government has opposed the conditions submitted by the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, for the resumption of his trial.
At yesterday’s proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abuja, Kanu agreed to the acceleration of his prosecution on the ground that his conditions were met.
The IPOB leader, through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, listed three conditions that must be met before the trial could resume.
Among others, he demanded that the bail granted him earlier be restored to enable him to prepare for his defence.
He claimed that the Federal Government erroneously revoked the bail based on a false and fraudulent claim.
The IPOB leader also requested the setting aside of the arrest warrant issued against him based on allegations that he jumped bail and left the country.
He claimed that he would have been killed if he had not escaped the way he did, accusing the Federal Government of misleading the court to get the bail revoked in his absence.
He also demanded that his lawyer must be permitted to have unhindered access to him as required by law.
The Biafra agitator said that he would be willing to face an accelerated trial once the conditions are met.
However, the Federal Government, through its counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, asked the court to reject the conditions because they were frivolous, vexatious, irritating and baseless.
The senior lawyer said that the court had earlier rejected the bail application, and, as such, the court cannot overrule itself. Awomolo argued that the only option open to Kanu is to go to the Court of Appeal to challenge the rejected bail request.
Meanwhile, Kanu will on May 20 know his fate concerning his request for restoration of his revoked bail, as well as his demand to be moved from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) to house arrest.
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, fixed the date, yesterday, after taking arguments from Kanu’s legal team led by Ejimakor and that of the Federal Government, represented by Awomolo.
Kanu asked that his lawyers be allowed unhindered access to him to enable him to prepare for his defense, adding that until those conditions are met by the Federal Government in line with Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution, he would not submit himself for trial.
