APPEAL COURT DISCHARGES NNAMDI KANU, CHALLENGES LOWER COURT’s JURISDICTION.
Written by AIGBOKHAEBHO OKHUELEIGBE on October 13, 2022
The court of appeal has struck out the 7-count charges preferred against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, on grounds that the lower court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The appellate court held that Kanu having been extradited from Kenya without following the extradition rules was flagrant disobedience of the rules and a clear violation of Kanu’s rights.
This is because there was no denial by the respondents in the appeal as to the submissions of Mike Ozekhome, SAN that his client, the appellant, was extraordinarily renditioned from Kenya.
The appellate court held that the failure of the respondents to respond to the averments of the appellants’ counsel means they conceded to the submissions of the appellant.
The appellate court also held that the lower court failed to examine the findings of the prosecution as they would not have tried Kanu if he was not been illegally brought to the country.
The court, therefore, held that the lower court has no jurisdiction to entertain the 7-count charge alleged to have been committed by Kanu, before his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
