On Tuesday, the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the troubled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), commenced in the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Under the direction of Justice James Omotosho, the court approved the Federal Government’s plea to allow witnesses to testify in front of screens.
Kanu Agabi, the defense counsel, informed the court that his team consisted of 22 people at the reopened hearing. But the judge asserted that he would only authorize the 13 he had specified.
The defense team now includes Audu Nunghe, Joseph Akubo, Emeka Etiaba, and Onyechi Ikpeazu, four seasoned advocates.
Adegboyega Awolowo, the Federal Government’s attorney, informed the court that because of the nature of the case and for security considerations, they had already submitted an ex parte application to have the witnesses testify behind screens.
The witness, AAA, has been with the Department of State Services (DSS) for eighteen years.
He told the court, while testifying behind a screen, that he and a few other team members were tasked with apprehending Kanu at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Lagos on October 14, 2015.
After Kanu was brought to the DSS command in Lagos, the defendant countersigned a list of the things in his room.
He was in charge of the team who detained Kanu on October 14, 2015, inside the Golden Tulip Hotel at Lagos International Airport, according to AAA.
Nnamdi Kanu was not a visitor at the Golden Tulip, according to the receptionist when they arrived. His name was missing from the guest manifest that they had been showing the DSS for several months. The DSS’s director thus gave them the order to search the hotel room by room.
They discovered Nnamdi Kanu and Maria Ibezimakor, a young woman, in room 303.
At first, Kanu acted violently and resisted being arrested, headbutting a DSS officer named Bolaji.
According to the DSS, the room where Kanu was detained had a variety of broadcasting equipment that was ready for use, giving the impression that it was a studio.
He was arrested at approximately 11 p.m.
After packing and listing all of the equipment at the DSS office in Lagos, Kanu attested that it was his and complete.
The list was presented to AAA, who recognized it; it was then admitted after being given as evidence.
According to the witness, Kanu was questioned at their office the following day, and the exchange was captured on tape.
He recognized a CD platter that was displayed to him as the interrogation’s tape. In open court, the CD plate was played and submitted as evidence.
It contained Kanu’s identification and his responses to questions posed by a DSS officer.
He claimed that he fought to improve people’s lives so that they would wake up feeling content with their circumstances.
In addition to being a communication engineer, he confessed to having founded Radio Biafra.
He said his colleague Uche Mefor was in charge of Radio Biafra London while he was in Nigeria.
Radio Biafra has officers in the US, Russia, Italy, Sweden, and other countries, he said. Since many radio listeners also aid in its dissemination, they don’t have a single employee in Nigeria.
“I don’t have a license to operate a radio station in Nigeria,” he stated, emphasizing that he is aware that it is illegal to do so and that if he applied, he would not be granted one.
In his declaration, Kanu acknowledged that he was fighting for the liberation of the people of South East, South South, and portions of Benue and Kogi.
Since freedom fighting is a fundamental right, he explained, it is not illegal anywhere in the globe, including Nigeria.
Kanu emphasized that the UN Charter on People’s Rights protects the right to self-determination and that he supports freedom of speech.
Since he has not been connected to anyone, he asserted that he is not participating in any violent acts.
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