The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, adjourned the case against detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, till Wednesday 19 January.
This followed a complaint by Kanu that he was not promptly served the fresh 15-count amended charge it brought before the court.
Kanu’s team of lawyers led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, further accused FG of denying him the necessary facility to defend the charge against him.
According to Ozekhome, SAN, the amended charge was served on them, barely 24 hours to the scheduled hearing.
“My lord, the proposed amended charge was served on us yesterday evening. As I speak to you my lord, the Defendant who was just brought in, has not even seen the charge which he is being told to enter his plea.
With due respect, that is not Justice. It is ambushing. I know that the Administration if Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, allows them to amend, but this is the 6th amendment they are making, and each time they do it, they serve us a day to the hearing, just to frustrate the trial”, Ozekhome added.
The Prosecution team, led by Mr. Mohammed Labaran from the Federal Ministry of Justice, said they were not opposed to the court granting a short adjournment to enable the defence lawyers to study the charge.
Before the djournment till Wednesday, trial Justice Binta Nyako, ordered the Department of State Services, DSS, to allow Kanu to have a change of cloth.
“I don’t want to see him in this cloth again. This one is almost off-white. Also make sure that you allow him to exercise”, Justice Nyako added.
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