The
Federal Government has finally asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke
the bail granted the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Mr. Namdi
Kanu, who is being prosecuted along with others on treasonable felony charges.
The
prosecution made this request in an application it filed before the court and
served on Kanu on Friday.
The
application seeking the revocation of Kanu’s bail was released to journalists
in Abuja on Friday by the Special Assistant to the Attorney-General of the
Federation on Media and Publicity, Mr. Salihu Isah.
Kanu
had, earlier in his application filed on July 1, 2017, urged the court to vary
the conditions of the bail granted him on April 25, 2017.
But
the Federal Government hinged its fresh motion seeking the revocation of Kanu’s
bail on the grounds that the IPOB leader had flouted the terms and conditions
of the bail.
Justice
Binta Nyako had, in her ruling delivered on April 25, granted bail to Kanu, but
dismissed the separate bail applications filed by his co-defendants — the
National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin
Madubugwu, and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David
Nwawuisi.
Recently,
after the court delivered its ruling on the defendants’ bail applications, the
prosecuting counsel, Mr. Magaji Labaran, amended the charges to include another
co-defendant, Bright Chimezie.
In
his application filed on July 1, 2017, Kanu maintained that parts of the bail
conditions prohibiting him from being seen in a crowd exceeding 10 persons,
granting press interviews and holding or attending rallies violated his
constitutional rights.
His
lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, stated in the motion that the undesirable bail
terms and conditions were contained in paragraphs 2(vii) and (viii) of the
court’s ruling granting bail to his client on April 25.
But
the Federal Government, in its fresh application, asked the court to revoke the
bail granted Kanu and order his immediate arrest by the police.
The
Federal Government’s counter-affidavit filed in support of the motion and
deposed to by a litigation clerk in the Office of the Director Public
Prosecutions, pieced together Kanu’s alleged acts of serial violation of the
bail conditions imposed by the court.
It
maintained that Kanu had flagrantly violated all the bail conditions.
It
stated that the essence of the bail, which was for Kanu to look after his
health, had been defeated.
According
to the prosecution, instead of using the opportunity of his bail to attend to
his health needs, Kanu went ahead to inaugurate a security outfit known as the
Biafra Security Service.
The
prosecution said this constituted a threat to national security.
It
also cited an instance of how Kanu allegedly incited his followers “to disrupt,
disallow and boycott elections in south East states, starting with Anambra
State governorship election scheduled to hold on November 18, 2017, if the
Federal Government failed to hold a referendum for the realisation of the state
of Biafra nation.”
- Punch
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