Drama in court as Namadi Kanu insists his case be withdrawn from Justice Nyako
Drama on Monday ensued at the Federal High Court in Abuja following Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, asking Judge Binta Nyako to recuse herself from the trial.
According to Premium Times, Ejimakor said the request for her to quit the case again came from his client, who is the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group agitating for the secession of Southeast states and parts of some neighbouring states as a sovereign Biafra nation.
Mr Kanu, who has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) since 2021, is standing trial before Mrs Nyako on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony arising from his separatist activists as a pro-Biafra agitator.
Kanu’s trial was earlier stalled after Mrs Nyako recused herself from the case following the IPOB leader’s oral application on 24 September 2024.
The IPOB leader broke into a conversation between the bar and the bench during the court session to tell the judge to withdraw from the case. He said he no longer had confidence in her handling of his trial.
However, John Tsoho, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, returned the file to Mrs Nyako because Mr Kanu’s application must be brought formally before the court through a motion on notice.
Opposing the request for a trial date, the defence counsel, Ejimakor, in a letter dated 9 December 2024, said the ruling of the judge recusing herself remained valid, adding that the case be transferred to a division of the Federal High Court in the Igbo-dominated South-east region of the country if no judge in Abuja is willing to preside over it.
However, at the resumed hearing on Monday, February 10, 2025, the prosecuting counsel, led by Awomolo, told the judge that he was ready for the commencement of trial as his witnesses were ready.
Ejimakor, while reacting, said his client had chosen not to stand trial before Mrs Nyako.
“The defendant is still asking that your lordship recuse herself from this matter,” Ejimakor told the court.
In response, the judge said, “The Chief Judge had not accepted the recusal and had referred the case back” to her for trial.
She asked the defence team led by Mr Ejimakor to send a written application if they still insist on the recusal.
Source: Premium Times
