“I
will give testimony before this court! By the time I finish, there
will be no Nigeria. This is no Sharia court. It is a court that
operates under the common law. “There will be no screening of
witnesses, no fake identities or fake addresses. I cannot be tried in
secret. No!”.
These
were the words of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra,
IPOB, and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday, at
his resumed trial before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High
Court in Abuja.
In
the Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Nyako granted the Federal Government
the nod to shield identities of witnesses billed to testify against
Nnamdi Kanu.
Justice Nyako who held that names of all the prosecution witnesses who are mostly security operatives, would not be disclosed in any record of the court proceedings also said that the witnesses would be allowed to testify against the defendants behind a screen that would be provided by the court.
Justice Nyako who held that names of all the prosecution witnesses who are mostly security operatives, would not be disclosed in any record of the court proceedings also said that the witnesses would be allowed to testify against the defendants behind a screen that would be provided by the court.
Justice
Nyako however stressed that both the defendants and their counsel
would be allowed to see the witnesses who she said would enter and
exit the courtroom through a special door.
However,
Kanu immediately rejected the court ruling, insisting that it was
against the tenets of Justice and fair hearing. “I won’t stand
this travesty of Justice. Buhari spoke in public, he accused me in
public. I must also be allowed to stand my trial in public. Nnamdi
Kanu cannot be jailed in secret! They are mad. Why must I be tried in
secrecy by a government that does not obey court orders. They are
killing my people in public, after killing my people they want to try
me in private? That person is mad. I won’t allow it,” Kanu
bellowed from the dock.
The
IPOB leader is facing an11-count charge alongside three other
pro-Biafra agitators, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and
David Nwawuisi. Charges against the accused persons border on
reasonable felony and their alleged involvement in acts of terrorism.
The defendants had earlier alleged plot by the Federal Government to
import foreigners to testify against them.
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