The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a fresh application the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the charge the federal Government preferred against him.
The Court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Binta Nyako, said it was not obligated to exercise any discretion in favour of the defendant.
Justice Nyako said that Kanu’s earlier escape from the country led those who stood as his surety to disassociate themselves from the case.
She noted that the sureties in their applications claimed that they were not aware of Kanu’s whereabouts, which forced the court to forfeit the N100 million bail bonds.
Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October 14 2015, he was granted bail on health grounds after spending 18 months in detention. However, midway into the trial, the IPOB leader escaped from the country.
Kanu was later re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021 and has remained in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, till date.
The court also refused Kanu’s request to be either transferred to prison custody or placed on house arrest.
However, it ordered DSS to always grant him access to his lawyers and doctors of his choice.
