The detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, made a dramatic turn on Tuesday by informing the Federal High Court in Abuja that he was ready to open his defence.
This came just hours after Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, led protests in parts of Abuja demanding Kanu’s release.
Kanu had, last Thursday, filed a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction to continue his trial.
The objection came on the same day a team of medical experts appointed by the court declared him medically fit to stand trial, Channels reports.In a fresh motion personally filed on Tuesday, October 21, Kanu told the court that he was prepared to begin his defence “pursuant to the order of this honourable court made on the 16th day of October 2015, directing the defendant to commence his defence on the 24th day of October 2025.”
He disclosed plans to call 23 witnesses divided into two categories, “ordinary but material witnesses” and “vital and compellable witnesses”, the latter to be summoned under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.
The motion, which Kanu personally signed, suggested that he may have disengaged his legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kanu Agabi.
