News

Amid Mild Drama, Nnamdi Kanu Finally Opens Defence As Court Sets Nov 20 for Judgment

Published

3 months ago

November 8, 2025

Eric

Biafra separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu finally complied with the Federal High Court in Abuja’s order to open his defence in the terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.

Kanu, who had previously resisted proceeding with his defence, began filing his documents on Friday directly in the courtroom, following instructions from Justice James Omotosho.

The judge had earlier directed that the court’s registry be temporarily moved into the courtroom to accommodate Kanu’s complaints and ensure he could complete the filing process without further delay.

Speaking in court, Federal Government counsel Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) confirmed he was ready to receive Kanu’s defence submissions and respond as required.

While Kanu was still in the process of submitting his documents, Justice Omotosho temporarily adjourned proceedings for an hour to allow the filing to continue uninterrupted.

Before now, Kanu had consistently refused to open his defence, insisting that the prosecution first clarify which specific terrorism law he was alleged to have breached before he could respond.

Justice Omotosho after waiting for Kanu to open his defence, announced adjournment till November 20 for judgment.

The step by step process as witnessed in the court:

Justice James Omotosho stood down the matter after the prosecutor, Adegboyega Awomolo, applied for a stand down to allow Mr Kanu file the document.

The development occurred shortly after the case was called, and Mr Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), alleged that officials of the State Security Service (SSS), where he is being detained, did not allow him to file the process in his defence.

“My lord, I don’t know how to say this. I have a process here to file, which has not been allowed for the last three days.

“I have the process for my defence. I don’t know if my lord will allow me to file it for my defence,” he prayed.

Justice Omotosho then sought a response from the SSS officers in court on why Mr Kanu had not been allowed to file the document.

One of the operatives of the security agency stood up and addressed the court.

The officer said after the adjournment on Wednesday, Mr Kanu told them that he wanted to file a process.

“We waited for him (Kanu) and he could not file the process, and we left,” he said.

He said on Thursday, they got information again at the office that Mr Kanu wanted to file the process.

He said if the defendant wants to file a process in court, they have a standard procedure and protocol for Mr Kanu’s movement to guarantee his safety and the safety of others around.

He explained that a letter ought to be written by his former lawyers, who are now consultants, to the SSS management before he could be allowed.

“We only got the information from our officers who are detailed to him. So that creates a logistic problem,” he said.

Also responding, Mr Awomolo said the protocol for Mr Kanu’s movement is dictated by the court’s order.

“However, we will ask for a stand down for about an hour my lord to allow him file the process,” he said.

However, Mr Kanu disagreed with the SSS officer on his submission.

“What he just narrated was not correct,” he said.

“When I was downstairs looking for the process on Wednesday, they (the officers) said let us go and you will be brought back the next day,” he said.

Mr Kanu alleged that he had also told the SSS officers that the court officers could be allowed to bring the stamp for him to depose to the affidavit, but they refused.

Mr Awomolo then said that the issues, as difficult as they seemed, could be made easier by Mr Kanu’s legal consultants.

He said he was not aware that Mr Kanu planned to file a process.

“I was not aware of this. If they (consultants) can talk to me or the Legal Department at the DSS, they are their colleagues, the matter would have been resolved.

“They can speak to them (Legal Department). They (the consultants) equally have my phone number; they can call me,” Mr Awomolo said.

The judge, who stood down the matter, ordered the officers at the court registry and the commissioner for oaths to come into the court with the stamp to attend to Mr Kanu.

“The defendant will file here while we take other matters,” the judge said.

Justice Omotosho further made an order allowing the court workers to go to the SSS office with the court stamp whenever Mr Kanu is a deponent to a document.

Mr Kanu, who was expected to open his defence on Friday, is standing trial on alleged terrorism offences.

BACKGROUND

The Nigerian government has been prosecuting Mr Kanu on seven charges, mostly terrorism-related, since 2015.

The charges stemmed from his alleged violent secessionist campaigns for the independence of the Igbo-dominated South-eastern part of Nigeria as Biafra.

But the dual Nigerian and British citizen has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The prosecution closed its case with five witnesses in June.

After the prosecution closed its case, Mr Kanu filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution failed to lead credible evidence against him to warrant putting forward any defence.

However, in September, the judge dismissed the no-case submission, ruling that he had a case to answer and should enter his defence.

Since then, several proceedings have been scheduled for him to start his defence after he suddenly disengaged his lawyers and told the court that he would defend himself.

The case was adjourned several times in the past month to keep the window of defence open, while Mr Kanu continued to maintain that there is no valid charge against him to defend.

He argued that the charges against him “were brought under a repealed terrorism law.”

Following Kanu’s insistence that the charges were invalid, the judge, Mr Omotosho, on Wednesday, reminded him of the need to keep his “gun powder dry” for his defence.

Kanu said he would need to consult with his four legal consultants, whom he named as Nnaemeka Ejiofor, Aloy Ejimakor, Maxwell Okpara and Mandela Umegborogu, after which the case was adjourned to Friday.

As it stands, defence or not, judgment, according to Justice Omotosho, will be delivered on November 20.

News

Police Nab Coordinator, Two Monarchs over Killing of Four Persons in Ebonyi

Published

17 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Eric

The police in Ebonyi State have confirmed the arrest of Mr. Anya Baron-Ogbonnia, Coordinator of Amasiri Development Centre in Afikpo, in connection with the killing of four persons in Edda Local Government Area (LGA).

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Joshua Ukandu, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abakaliki.

Ukandu said that the arrest followed a joint operation involving the Army, the Directorate of Security Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

He said that two traditional rulers – Onyaidam Bassey and Godfrey Oko-Obia from Amasiri in Afikpo council area are also in police custody.

The police spokesperson said that 10 people were earlier arrested in connection with the incident.

Reports said there has been a long-standing land dispute between the people of Okporojor in Oso Edda community in Edda and their Amasiri neighbours in Afikpo LGA.

Suspected warlords from Amasiri community, on January 29, 2026, attacked Okporojor Village and beheaded four persons, burnt houses and destroyed other valuable property.

“Yes, on the Thursday attack, the update is that the coordinator of Amasiri, two traditional rulers from Amasiri and other individuals were arrested by a joint operation of the security agencies in the state.

“Those arrested are all in our custody and investigations on the killings are still ongoing.

“The command and other security personnel will not relent until all those involved are brought to justice,” the PPRO said.

NAN

News

Lagos Govt Bans Illegal Chieftaincy Titles

Published

17 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Eric

The Lagos State Government has warned individuals and groups against assuming or parading unauthorised chieftaincy titles.

It described the trend as illegal and disruptive to public order.

In a public advisory issued on Monday, the government said its attention had been drawn to “an unhealthy development where some individuals or groups have assumed certain Chieftaincy titles, either on their own or as leaders of ethnic groups, without the approval of the State Government.”

The advisory, signed by the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, Bolaji Robert, stated that such titles are not recognised by the State.

The advisory said, “These titles are not recognised in the State and their use has caused tension, confusion, and needless crises. The situation requires urgent action to inject sanity and arrest the growing trend of impunity, in the interest of peace, law and order in the State.”

The government noted that the number of self-acclaimed traditional rulers had continued to rise despite previous regulatory efforts.

“The preponderance of these self-acclaimed Chieftaincy titles has reached an alarming level, rendering efforts at curbing these untoward excesses by the State Government through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs, and Rural Development largely ineffective,” it stated.

While acknowledging Lagos as a cosmopolitan state, the government warned against the assumption of royal titles and styles not backed by law.

“While we recognise the right of various groups to appoint leaders to coordinate their affairs in Lagos State, the assumption of Chieftaincy titles and nomenclatures equivalent to that of an ‘Oba’ or appellations such as ‘His Royal Majesty’, ‘His Royal Highness’ or its equivalent is in contravention of the extant Obas and Chiefs Law of Lagos State 2015 and thus illegal,” the advisory read.

The government stressed that only the governor has the authority to approve chieftaincy matters in the State.

“Particularly, the appropriate authority for the approval of Chieftaincy titles in Lagos State is Mr. Governor through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs, and Rural Development,” it said, adding that Sections 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20 of the law outline the procedures for such approvals.

News

Court Restrains NLC, TUC from Embarking on Strike, Protest in Abuja

Published

1 day ago

February 2, 2026

Eric

The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has stopped the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliates from proceeding with a planned protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Justice Emmanuel Sibilim issued the interim injunction on Monday, barring the labour unions from embarking on any form of industrial action or protest within the nation’s capital. The court also restrained three individuals — Comrades Benson Upah, General NA Toro and Stephen Knabayi — who were listed as respondents in the suit.

The ruling followed an ex parte application jointly filed by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). The motion, marked NICN/ABJ/30/26, was argued on behalf of the applicants by a legal team led by Mr. James Onoja, SAN.

In its order, the court restrained the 1st to 5th respondents, “their privies or agents, from embarking on strike pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.” It further directed the 5th to 9th defendants, who are security agencies, to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order in the FCT.

The claimants informed the court that the Chairman of the FCT Council had circulated a mobilisation message to union members and affiliates, calling for a mass protest scheduled for February 3. They argued that the planned action amounted to a violation of an existing court order.

According to the FCT Minister, an earlier injunction was granted by the court on January 27, after which the NLC and TUC allegedly issued fresh directives to their affiliates to intensify and sustain the strike, citing an appeal they had filed against the restraining order. He maintained that such actions were intended to provoke chaos and disrupt public order in Abuja.

Following the ruling, the court adjourned the substantive matter to February 10 for hearing.

Details contained in an affidavit filed in support of the application outlined the sequence of events that led to the court action. The claimants averred that:

“On the 19th of January, 2026, the workers in the employment of the 2nd Claimant acting under the aegis of the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), commenced an industrial action by locking all entrance to offices and the secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, including closure of schools and all departments and agencies of the 2nd Claimant. Thereby, bringing the governmental functions and activities of the Claimants to a standstill.”

The affidavit further stated: “Being law abiding, the claimants herein instituted an action at the National Industrial Court Abuja, in Suit No: NICN/ABJ/17/2026, between the FCT Minister & anor V. Rifkatu Iortyer & anor, wherein the court on the 27th of January, 2026 made an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants therein JUAC, its affiliate unions, and all employees of the 2nd Claimant were restrained from further embarking on any industrial action, and ordered to resume work pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

The claimants alleged that the injunction was openly disregarded after it was served on the parties.

“Immediately the order of the court was served on parties, the 1st Defendant acting through the 3rd Defendant issued a directive titled: ‘REINFORCEMENT DIRECTIVE TO ALL AFFILIATE UNIONS IN THE FCT’ urging the workers in the employment of the 2nd Claimant to resume industrial action,” the affidavit read.

It added that on January 28, the NLC and TUC issued another directive titled: “‘DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS WITH COURAGE AND DIGNITY: WE ARE WITH YOU’ wherein they directed that workers of the 2nd Claimant should resume industrial action and jettison the order of the National industrial Court made on the 27/1/2026.”

The court filing further stated that the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) subsequently followed the directive, instructing its members to resume the strike through a notice dated January 28, 2026, signed by Comrade Abdullahi Umar Saleh as JUAC secretary.

According to the affidavit, the situation escalated when the FCT Council allegedly issued another mobilisation notice.

“Acting under the directives aforementioned, the 5th Defendant, acting, as the chairperson of the 1st Defendant; FCT Council, issued a directive on the 31/1/2026, to all affiliate unions named therein to mobilize their members who are employees of the 2nd Claimant for a mass protest in the Federal Capital Territory… on the 3rd of February, 2026 by 7.00 am prompt with a view to causing chaos, breakdown of law and order, and prevent the smooth administration of the 2nd Claimant.”

The claimants said they were compelled to return to court out of fear that the planned protest could disrupt vehicular movement and infringe on the rights of residents and visitors to the FCT.

“The Claimants are apprehensive of the breakdown of law and order obstruction of vehicular movement, violation of the rights of the residents of the Federal Capital Territory, particularly those in the private sector and other government establishments, which includes other States of the Federation, expatriates and tourists, hence the resort to court action,” the affidavit concluded.