The Supreme Court on Friday upturned the decision of the Appeal Court, ordering the release of the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.
The panel of justices of the court, in the judgment written by Justice Garba Lawal and read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, said the apex court voided and set aside the judgment of the lower court, which in October last year ordered the release of Kanu and also quashed the terrorism charges against him.
The apex court held that the Nigerian Government’s reckless and unlawful rendition of Kanu from Kenya has not divested any court from proceeding with the trial.
Justice Lawal said that no Nigerian law was cited in the suit seeking Kanu’s release on mere unlawful abduction from Kenya, adding that at the moment, the remedy for such action is for Kanu to file a civil matter against such act instead of removing the powers of courts to continue with his trial for alleged criminal charges, which subsequently ordered that Kanu should go and defend himself in the remaining seven-count terrorism charges before a Federal High Court in Abuja.