Uproar in court as judge hands off Nnamdi Kanu’s trial

Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has recused herself from the trial of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in the terrorism charges brought against by the Federal Government.

The judge on Tuesday opted out of the trial following the outburst of Kanu that he had no confidence and trust in the Judge for justice.

In the middle of Tuesday’s proceedings, Kanu had jumped up from the dock, shouted at his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and took over addressing the court.

In the uproar that ensued, Kanu after taking over the proceedings, announced that he no longer has confidence in Justice Binta Nyako and demanded that she recuse herself immediately.

While Ejimakor was reluctant to sit down, Kanu repeatedly shouted at him: “Sit down. I say sit down there. Sit down, it is my order.”

At this juncture, the thoroughly embarrassed Ejimakor took his seat in obedience to his client’s order.

Kanu, shouting on top of his voice, turned to the judge and informed her that he has no confidence of getting justice in the treasonable charges she is handling.

Looking the judge in the face, Kanu said, “Let me tell you right away, I do not have confidence in this your court. I do not have trust in you.

“I demand that you immediately recuse yourself from this matter. The Federal Government of Nigeria has no jurisdiction to prefer terrorism charges against me. You know the truth but you don’t want to say it.

“You are pretending that you don’t know that Nigerian government has no right, no jurisdiction to file this charges against me. You are biased against me,” he said while shouting in the open court.

The Biafra agitator also turned to the Federal Government lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, accusing him of doing the Federal Government’s bidding against the law.

He said that he can only be charged with any criminal offence in the United Kingdom where the alleged offence was committed.

The Federal Government lawyer however vehemently objected to Kanu’s demand that the judge should recuse herself.

Awomolo asked the court to permit him to call his first witness, adding that the witness be shielded from public view for security reasons.

In a reaction, Kanu’s lawyer, Ejimakor objected to commencement of trial adding that they have not prepared Kanu for any trial.

Ejimakor said that he was not given privacy by DSS to discuss with his client, adding that the room offered him to discuss was dirty and that a foreigner employed to clean up the room was disallowed by the security agency.

Besides, he claimed he had filed three separate appeals against the earlier decisions of the high court with two of them challenging the jurisdiction of the court while the third one was on bail.

He demanded that the trial be put on hold till the determination of the three appeals by the Court of Appeal.

His request was however turned down on the ground that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, did not permit granting such request.

Meanwhile, Kanu has been taken to the DSS custody for continuation of his detention till the Chief Judge would reassign the case to another judge.