The Supreme Court of Nigeria has scheduled the hearing for two separate appeals filed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), challenging his continued detention by the Nigerian government. The hearing is set for Thursday, October 5, 2023.
The appeals to be heard are identified as SC/CR/1394/2022, NNAMDI KANU V. FED. REP OF NIGERIA, and SC/CR/1391/2023, FED. REP OF NIG VS NNAMDI KANU.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome, along with Ifeanyi Ejiofor and others, had previously secured victories for Kanu at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal. In October 2022, the Court of Appeal acquitted Kanu of the 15 counts charged against him and prohibited any further arrest, detention, or trial related to those charges. This decision followed his extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria on June 27, 2021, by agents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
However, the Federal Government appealed the judgment at the Supreme Court and obtained a stay of the appellate court’s decision from another panel of the Court of Appeal. Despite the court’s ruling in his favor, Kanu has remained in solitary confinement at the Department of State Services (DSS) facility for nearly a year.
Kanu’s lawyer confirmed the hearing date and emphasized the urgency of resolving the case. He stated, “The following appeal has been slated for hearing at the Supreme Court of Nigeria Abuja, on Thursday the 5th, October, 2023 (SC/CR/1394/2022, NNAMDI KANU V. FED.REP OF NIGERIA V; and SC/CR/1391/2023, FED. REP OF NIG VS NNAMDI KANU.”
The legal team had previously requested September 28, 2023, as the hearing date, but it was canceled. They are now urging for an expedited resolution of the case, as Kanu has been held in violation of court orders and judgments, despite being discharged of all charges against him on October 13, 2022.