Why Nnamdi Kanu is still in detention – Njoku

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – A member of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s global legal consortium, Njoku Jude Njoku, has claimed that the continued detention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader is the result of legal mistakes by his former lawyers and executive overreach by the federal government.

In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, Njoku accused Kanu’s former legal team of mishandling the case, allowing the government to take advantage of legal loopholes to keep him in detention.

He said a major error was the failure to enforce the Court of Appeal’s ruling on 13 October 2022, which discharged Kanu on the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction to try him.

Njoku explained that the government wrongly used Order 6 Rule 1 of the Court of Appeal Rules, a civil procedure, to challenge a criminal discharge, effectively reopening a case that had already been closed.

“This was a colossal legal blunder. That rule is meant for civil appeals, not criminal ones. It should never have applied. By going along with this, Ozekhome effectively allowed a dead case to be re-opened,” Njoku stated.

He also criticised the Supreme Court for accepting the government’s appeal, even after the Court of Appeal ruled that Nigeria had no legal right to try Kanu due to his alleged unlawful extradition from Kenya.

Njoku stressed that a discharge based on jurisdiction means the case is finished and is the same as an acquittal, as confirmed by the Supreme Court in FRN v. Osahon (2006).

He further pointed out that the repealed Terrorism Prevention Act (TPA) 2013 was wrongly used to file charges against Kanu, even though it had already been replaced by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 in May of that year.

Njoku said Section 108(2) of the new law, which allows existing cases to continue, does not apply here, because the Court of Appeal had already dismissed the case.

“You can’t revive a dead case. That’s basic law, confirmed by Section 6(1)(c) of the Interpretation Act 1964, which says repeal doesn’t revive a proceeding that was already terminated,” Njoku added.

He sympathised with Kanu’s current legal team, saying they inherited a case damaged by serious mistakes and now have limited ways to correct those errors.

According to Njoku, the team’s main argument is that a dead case cannot be tried again, and Kanu cannot be prosecuted under a law that no longer exists.

Njoku urged Kanu’s supporters to stay united and focus on the bigger picture.

“The real enemies are the abuse of civil rules in criminal cases, the misuse of repealed laws to try political prisoners, the silence of foreign governments that should know better, and the dangerous precedent of allowing executive power to override constitutional rights,” he said.

He expressed hope that the involvement of respected legal experts like Kanu Agabi SAN, and the handling of the case by Justice Omotosho, might lead to a just resolution.

“With these legal minds on the case, we have a real shot at restoring the meaning of constitutional rights and freeing a man who has already been discharged,” Njoku added.

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