The Federal Government has filed six counts including treasonable felony against the founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Two other persons charged along with Kanu are Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.
The fresh
case against Kanu was filed on Friday, barely 24 hours after another
judge of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, Justice Adeniyi
Ademola, ordered Kanu’s unconditional release from the custody of the
Department of State Services.
The fresh charges were filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Diri, for the Attorney General of the Federation.
Justice
Ademola ordered the DSS to release Kanu unconditionally since there were
no pending charges against him about two months after his detention.
But instead of releasing him, the Federal Government filed fresh charges against him on Friday.
The fresh
case was listed to come up before Justice Ahmed Mohammed on Tuesday, it
was however stalled due to the absence of the prosecution in court.
The judge later clarified that there was a mix-up because the hearing notice was not served on the prosecution.
While
Kanu’s lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, was in court on Tuesday, the accused
were not produced but there was heavy presence of policemen around the
court, a usual feature which signified the hearing date of high profile
cases.
No date
has been fixed for the arraignment of the accused persons on the six
counts filed before Justice Ahmed Mohammed last Friday, but Ejiofor said
he would file a bail application for his client by Wednesday.
Kanu and
the two others were charged with treasonable felony, an offence the
prosecution says is punishable under Section 41(C) of the Criminal Code
Act, CAP C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
The prosecution also accused the three men of managing an unlawful society – the Indigenous People of Biafra.
