On Friday, the Nigerian court dismissed the request for the liberation of a separatist leader and ruled that prosecutors had given him enough evidence to face the accusation of terrorism filed by the government.
The court ruled that the Nigerian government had demonstrated sufficient evidence in the case against NAMDI KANU, the leader of the prohibited Biafra or IPob, a separatist group that seeks independence for the southeast region of Nigeria.
The judgment comes more than a year after the Supreme Court renewed the charges of terrorism against Kan. At Lower Court, Kanu claimed that the government had no case against him.
Kanu, which is a holder of British citizenship, has been since 2015, when he was first arrested and accused of terrorism and betrayal. In 2017 he jumped the bail and in 2021 he was rebuilt after he was lured to another African country by Nigerian intelligence staff.
Kan denied any unlawful conduct, and his supporters blame the government of unfairly focusing on him to suppress the group’s separatist campaign.
The IPob campaign for the independent state of Biafra follows the short -term Republic of Biafra, which fought from 1967 to 1970 and lost the civil war to break away from Nigeria. It is estimated that 1 million people died in the war, many of the southeast.
During the proceedings of Judge James Omotosho, he said, “The defendant should have some explanation.”
“This is not to say that the defendant is guilty of charging, but the opportunity to give him a fair hearing and allow him to exhaust his chances of explaining himself,” the judge ruled. “This submission without the case is rewritten and the defendant is obliged to enter his defense.”
Many people were killed in southeast Nigeria in violence accused of IPOB, which the group denies.
About four weeks ago, Simon Ekpa, another separatist leader who, after Kanu’s detention, increased to meaning, in Finland for six years in prison for terrorism and tax fraud.
(Tagstotranslate) Nigerian court
