An Abuja Federal High Court has refused the bail plea brought to it by the legal team of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, eponymous leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). This was a development occurring on the heels of the April 8th hearing where Judge Binta Nyako dismissed eight out of the initial 15-count charge brought against Mr. Kanu.
It was with the hope of riding this wave that Mike Ozekhome, Nnamdi Kanu’s lead counsel moved to appeal for bail. He charged the court with remembering that a person was presumed innocent until proven guilty and reminded them that the defendant ought to be allowed freedom of movement until a sentence is passed, pleading with the judge and jury to take into consideration Kanu’s deteriorating health.
However, the resident judge, the same Judge Binta Nyako that had ruled in their favor in a previous case refused the appeal, citing it as ‘premature.’ She reminded the court and the defendant’s legal team that Mr. Kanu had been granted bail before in April 2017 upon which he broke bail and fled the country. She insisted that until Kanu and his legal counsel provided a comprehensive explanation as to why he jumped bail for a little over four years, there would be no acceptance of a new application.
