A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Department of State Service not to interfere in the court’s security arrangements on February 16, the date set for the trial of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, leader Nnamdi Kanu on terrorism charges laid against him.
The directive was issued so that other judges could carry out other matters assigned to their courts.
Due to the high-security presence and restriction of roads leading to the court, Justice Binta Nyako revealed that trials in other cases had been canceled and that they had been forced to endure unnecessary adjournments each time Kanu’s trial took place.
The terrorism trial was postponed until 1 p.m. on February 16 to allow time for other cases to be heard before Kanu’s trial began.
Justice Binta instructed the DSS Director of Legal Services to relay the court’s ruling to the service’s senior officials for implementation in the interest of justice to other litigants.
The Federal Government has charged Nnamdi Kanu with 15 counts of terrorism.
He pleaded not guilty to the accusations and requested that the court discharge and acquit him without a trial, claiming that the charges were fatally flawed and not worth defending.
Kanu filed a preliminary objection last Tuesday, questioning the new charge’s competency as well as the court’s power to hear the case.
According to the defendant, the new charges brought against him were unjustified, useless, and flawed, and hence should be dropped.
Kanu’s appeal was made through his lead attorney, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, immediately after his re-arraignment and not guilty plea.