From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has adjourned the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to January 19, 2022.
Meanwhile, Kanu’s legal team led by Ifeanyi Ejiofor staged a walkout to protest the refusal of operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to allow some of them to gain access into the courtroom.
Kanu, who was brought into the courtroom around 9:52 am, had, shortly after his case was called up, kicked against the refusal of security agents to allow some members of his legal team, especially his lawyer from the United States, Bruce Fein, to enter the courtroom.
The IPOB leader told the court that Mr Fein, who he said was handling a case for him in the US, was around to witness his trial.
‘I have an ongoing case in the US. I have not been allowed to see him. He is here to see me and to observe the proceedings.
‘He has been to the DSS to see me, but they denied him access to me,’ Kanu stated from the dock.
Asked by the judge if he was ready to conduct the proceedings himself in the absence of his lawyers, Kanu replied in the negative.
Meanwhile, counsel to FG, Mr MD Abubakar, who is the Director of Public Prosecution, urged the court to proceed with the trial in the absence of Kanu’s lawyers.
Abubakar told the court that ordinarily the matter was fixed for the hearing of an application that was filed by Defendant.
He argued that since Kanu’s lead counsel, Mr Ejiofor, who was initially inside the courtroom walked out with his team shortly before the arrival of the judge, his pending application should be deemed abandoned.
In a short ruling, Justice Binta Nyako, expressing his displeasure over the conduct of Kanu’s lawyers, declined to dismiss the pending application, adjourning the case to January 19 and 20, 2022, for trial.