The trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, resumes at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja today.
Kanu is facing a seven-count charge before the Justice Binta Nyako-led Federal High Court.
The government yesterday, added other counts, bordering on terrorism, against him.
Kanu had pleaded not guilty to the first set of charges and opted to challenge the validity of the alleged crime.
Reacting to the new charges, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, accused the Federal Government of “dilatory tactics”, stressing that it’s an exercise in futility.
Ejimakor wondered why the government would slam his client with fresh charges on the eve of his resumed trials.
In preparation for the trial, the Abuja Federal High Court had granted the IPOB leader three days to present his case for fresh bail and to challenge the competence of the fresh terrorism charge brought against him by the federal government.
This was contained in a hearing notice issued by the Federal High Court for determination of the two motions filed by Kanu.
The hearing notice served on the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Justice and on Kanu through his lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor fixed January 18, 19 and 20, 2022, consecutively, for disposal of the two motions.
Nnamdi Kanu is also expected to use the three days to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to try him on the terrorism charge on the grounds that the alleged offences were committed in the United Kingdom and not in Nigeria.
Kanu has been held since June 2021 after he was re-arrested in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria to face his trial.
He is being held in the custody of the DSS, in Abuja on the order of the court.
He was first arrested in Lagos in 2015 by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) and was arraigned alongside four others in 2016.
Justice Nyako, however, granted him bail in 2017, but he jumped and fled to Europe, where he continued his agitation for Biafra.
Meanwhile, the pro-Biafra agitator had urged his followers to conduct themselves with decorum during his appearances in court.
