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Hours aft Omoyele Sowore, a quality rights activistic and erstwhile statesmanlike candidate, led protesters successful parts of Abuja demanding the merchandise of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained person of the banned Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Kanu agreed to commence his defence.
The detained IPOB person filed a question of preliminary objection past Thursday, contesting the court’s jurisdiction to proceed his trial. This objection was submitted connected the aforesaid time that a squad of aesculapian experts appointed by the tribunal submitted a study asserting that helium was medically acceptable to basal trial.
In a caller question helium personally filed connected Tuesday, 21 October, Kanu informed the tribunal that helium was acceptable to statesman his defence “pursuant to the bid of this honourable tribunal made connected the 16th time of October 2015, directing the suspect to commence his defence connected the 24th time of October 2025.”
In addressing the tribunal presided implicit by Justice James Omotosho, Kanu outlined his volition to telephone 23 witnesses, divided into 2 categories.
He indicated that the archetypal class would dwell of “ordinary but worldly witnesses.” The 2nd category, helium noted, would comprise “vital and compellable” witnesses, who shall beryllium “summoned nether Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.”
In the announcement Kanu signed, helium requested that, fixed the fig of witnesses helium intends to call, the tribunal should see granting 90 days to alteration him to reason his defence.
He assured the tribunal that helium would “testify connected his ain behalf, providing a sworn relationship of the facts, denying the allegations, and explaining the governmental discourse of his statements and actions.”
Among those Kanu listed arsenic “compellable witnesses” are erstwhile Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), erstwhile Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai (rtd), arsenic good arsenic Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Hope Uzodinma, Governors of Lagos and Imo States, respectively.
He besides mentioned Nyesom Wike, the existent Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), his Works counterpart, Dave Umahi, and Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, the contiguous past politician of Abia State.
Additionally, helium included the contiguous past Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, the erstwhile Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, his then-colleague astatine the State Security Service, SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, and respective witnesses whose identities helium did not disclose.
In the notice, Kanu pledged to “provide the sworn statements of each voluntary witnesses to this honourable court, and to notify the prosecution wrong a tenable time.”
He assured that “no precious clip of the honourable tribunal would beryllium wasted,” emphasising that “it would beryllium of involvement to the honourable tribunal and the wide nationalist that justness is not lone done but manifestly seen to person been done.”
Kanu’s question to unfastened his defence coincided with a magistrates’ tribunal successful Abuja ordering the remand of his peculiar counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, and 12 others protesting Kanu’s ongoing trial.
The constabulary charged the 13 individuals with assorted offences, including transgression conspiracy, disobedience of a lawful order, inciting disturbance, and disturbing nationalist peace, contravening sections 152, 114, and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
The 13 defendants named successful 2 abstracted archetypal accusation reports (FIRs) are Ejimakor, Kanu’s member Emmanuel, Joshua Emmanuel, Wilson Anyalewechi, Okere Kingdom Nnamdi, Clinton Chimeneze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom, Godwill Obioma, and Chima Onuchukwu.
The magistrate, who stood down the case, aboriginal ordered that the defendants beryllium remanded successful Kuje Correctional Centre and adjourned the arraignment until 24 October.
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