By Chinedu Aroh On Nov 27, 2020 Barr Alloy Ejimako, counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, has said until a hearing is conducted on why the militar...
By Chinedu Aroh On Nov
27, 2020
Barr Alloy Ejimako, counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, has said until a
hearing is conducted on why the military allegedly invaded his client’s home in
2017, he should not be expected to appear in court for the treason trial.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra did not appear
in court, Thursday, when his treason trial commened but the court said he would
be tried in absentia.
His lawyer, who was represented in court by another lawyer,
claimed the court notice was very short.
But in an interview with THE WHISTLER, Kanu’s lawyer said he
was absent because he needed to be assured of his security.
Speaking exclusively to this website in Abuja, the legal
luminary advised the Nigerian judicial system to do the needful by determining
why the Nigerian Army ‘invaded Kanu’s home in 2017, killing 28 persons in the
process’.
According to him, “Nnamdi Kanu didn’t appear because he is
not in Nigeria. And his trial in absentia is open to question. It shouldn’t
happen. Our position is that the court should have conducted a hearing as to
why Nnamdi Kanu has repeatedly failed to appear in court. If that enquiry is
conducted, it will bring to the fore what happened in September 2017. And it
will give an opportunity to introduce evidence in the proceedings to
demonstrate why nobody under such circumstances should be expected to appear in
court because the army went in there to kill him. I don’t know what the court
expected him to do–to stay here and be killed and be brought to court, or what?
“If someone is on bail, such a person is under the
protection of the court. And now, an agency of the same government that is
prosecuting this man sent its armed forces to this man, to kill this man. And
28 men were killed. The court is not making an enquiry into that, and they are
solely concerned about proceeding with his trial in absentia. It shouldn’t
happen in a well-ordered system. We just have to get to the root: why did he
not appear in court? That is the question.
“If it is settled, it will be determined on whether he
jumped bail of which no conclusion like that will ever be reached. If the court
makes such inquiry, it will also give the court an opportunity to determine
what happened in 2017. Then they can tell Mr Kanu to come and face your trial in
court because the court will give you protection. When that is done, he will
come. I guarantee he will come. Once the court makes a pronouncement on why he
is not there, and makes a ruling, then he will appear. But this court is not
doing that. If they proceed with absentia trial, the international community
will see it as kangaroo.”
On the fate of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who is one of
Kanu’s sureties, Barr Ejimako said, “I am representing the Jewish Rabbi,
Immanuel Shalom, the co-surety for Nnamdi Kanu. Abaribe was not the only
surety.
The other one is Mr Tochukwu Uchendu, an accountant. They
are of the equal footing with N100m each, totalling N300m. That is what they
stand to lose if Nnamdi Kanu is determined to have jumped bail. Abaribe’s case
is the same as my client’s case. We have the case in court that the bail bond
cannot be revoked without conducting a hearing on why the person that was given
the bail did not appear in court. The sureties cannot be said to have breached
their bonds in circumstances such as Nnamdi Kanu’s situation where 28 persons
were killed in his house. They bonded a man alive, and they want him produced
in court dead? It can’t happen. The bond subsists, and no one is going to lose
any money, and nobody is going to jail for a bail bond that was not breached,
but by the Nigerian Army.”
Also speaking, Prince Emma Kanu, a brother to the IPOB
leader, told our correspondent that, “If you look at what happened, you will
understand that the hearing notice was served late. The judge had to adjourn
the case to 27th January, 2021 for hearing. Nnamdi Kanu will appear if his
safety is guaranteed. There is nothing there. Kanu is not afraid of his trial.”
Recall that Justice Binta Nyako, Thursday, adjourned Kanu’s
trial to January 27, 2021 following a letter from Kanu’s legal team, claiming
late notice of the proceedings.
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