“You’ll only get guarantee of safety in Prison”, Judge to Nnamdi Kanu

The fugitive leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has said that he was ready to return to the country to continue his trial if he would be guaranteed of his safety.

But an Abuja Federal High Court judge, Binta Nyako, told him that the only way he could guarantee his safety is by returning him to prison, because even judges, in Nigeria these days, were no longer safe.

This was what transpired at the court on Thursday, after counsel to the IPOB leader, Ifeanyi Ejiofor told the judge that his client was ready to face trial in Nigeria should his safety be guaranteed.

Ejiofor said he had since filed an application to restore the IPOB leader’s bail to enable him continue his trial.

He said, “We have an application for bail filed on April 1, 2019. The application was served on the prosecution and it is due for hearing.

“We urge the court to restore his bail on the ground that the court will guarantee his safety when he comes back to the country to continue his trial.”

But in his response, counsel to the Federal Government, Labaran Shuaibu, said he had just seen the application.

While he opposed it, he prayed the court to adjourn the matter to enable him to file the necessary processes.

Justice Nyako, before adjourning the matter till January 16, 2020 said, “Even judges are being abducted in the country. So prison is the only safest place for him (Kanu).”

After Nnamdi Kanu’s disappearance, following alleged raid on his home in Abia by soldiers in 2017, the court accused him of jumping bail and revoked the bail it granted him earlier and held that the trial will continue even in his absence.

Nigerian government is trying Kanu for alleged treasonable offence.