Judge recuses self from hearing treason charges against Kanu

Following the fresh six-count charges filled by the Federal
Government of Nigeria against the embattled leader of
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, a
federal High Court judge has exempted himself from
hearing the case. Justice Ahmed Mohammed who
announced the decision on Wednesday in Abuja after Mr.
Kanu objected to the case, said that it was needless, as
the federal government had repeatedly disobeyed previous
court rulings.
Kanu was charged before the Federal High Court, Abuja
alongside two others, Benjamin Madubugwu and David
Nwawuisi in a fresh six-count charge of treason and
managing the affairs of ‘an unlawful society.’ The
government is accusing Mr. Kanu of plotting to split
Nigeria, by creating a Biafra Republic with south east,
south south states, and parts of Kogi and Benue states, as
component units.
Kanu, who was arraigned before Justice Mohammed
Wednesday, told the court before commencement of the
prosecution’s plea that he preferred being held in the
detention, than subjecting himself to a trial, which
outcome will not be respected. He said his previous trials
had various outcomes that were abused or neglected by
the office of the State Security Service, SSS.
The counsel to the prosecution, who is also the Federal
Director of Prosecution, office of the Attorney General,
Mohamed Diri, told the court that based on section 396 (2)
of the constitution, the defendant had no right to object to
being tried by the court until after the plea is heard.
However, Justice Mohammed who said he was opting out
of the case also countered the prosecution counsels,
saying that Mr. Kanu had the right to reject the trial, “after
all justice is rooted on confidence,” he said.
“If any of the parties has no confidence in the court, he
has the right to say so”, Mr. Mohammed ruled. He noted
that the prosecution would have done the same thing if
they were in Kanu’s shoes. “Assuming it was the
prosecution, if they had no confidence in the court of
jurisdiction; would they not have done so?” “I hereby remit
the case file to the honourable chief judge of this court to
reassign it,” the judge said.