Activist politician and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has alleged a plot at a high level of government to sentence detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to death or life imprisonment, whichever seems plausible.
The bold publication on SaharaReporters on Wednesday featured the same day that the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided by Justice James Omotosho, gave Kanu November 7 as “last chance” to open his defence, and file his written address in the case against him.
Kanu is facing terrorism charges despite his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
However, the IPOB leader, who is defending himself, having dismissed his legal team, for the fifth time in court, insisted when the case came up, that the charge against him does not presently exist in Nigeria’s law books, saying the law has been “repealed and non-existent.”
The allegations by Sowore, which was reported in SaharaReporters, claimed that “the administration of President Bola Tinubu has reached a high-level secret pact with the judiciary to either sentence Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to death or life imprisonment.
“Sowore, in a post on Wednesday, said that the decision had already been made through a top-level political conspiracy and that the ongoing legal proceedings were merely a formality to legitimise the outcome.
“For the avoidance of doubt and to alert the public, it has become clear that a secret decision has long been reached within the Tinubu regime regarding the fate of Nnamdi Kanu. The plan, devised through a high-level political conspiracy, is to either sentence him to death or condemn him to life imprisonment. This outcome, predetermined far in advance, is now being dressed up in the guise of judicial procedure,” Sowore said.
“He added that the move was being dressed up in the guise of judicial procedure, suggesting that Justice Omotosho, who is handling Kanu’s case, may interpret Kanu’s refusal to open his defence as an admission of guilt.
‘“Justice Omotosho is expected to conclude Kanu’s trial by declaring that his refusal to open his defence amounts to an admission of guilt —a convenient interpretation designed to seal a verdict already agreed upon behind closed doors”.
Kanu, in the open court on Wednesday, had repeatedly told Omotosho that there is no charge against him each time he was asked to open his defence.
“My Lord, there is no charge before this court. My Lord, this court lacks jurisdiction. There is no charge against me that exists in any current Nigerian statute. I ask that the court strikes it out today,” he declared, moving a motion filed on 30th of October, requesting a ruling immediately.
Relying on the ruling of the supreme court in 2023, Kanu maintained that “Count 15 does not exist in the body of Nigerian laws. It is unknown to our law. The prosecution must amend it.”
Addressing the prosecution lawyer, Kanu said: “You were ordered to amend it (by the supreme court). You disobeyed. Yet you forced me to plead to a count that does NOT exist. That alone nullifies this entire proceeding. Learned Silk, please tell this court the extant written law I allegedly broke.”