A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, declined to grant the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to bail.
Justice Binta Nyako, in a ruling, held that having refused to earlier admit Kanu to bail, the only option left for him was to approach the Court of Appeal.
Justice Nyako, however, made an order of accelerated hearing in the trial. The judge also rejected Kanu’s preliminary objection, seeking an order for some conditions to be met by the Department of State Service (DSS) before his trial could proceed.
The judge held that the court cannot dictate to the security agency how best to perform their duty according to international best practices. She said the best the court could do, in the circumstance, was to give an order for an accelerated hearing of the matter.
Shortly after the ruling, Kanu’s lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, prayed to the court for a standdown of the matter to allow his team of lawyers to consult with him (Kanu) on the way forward.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Nyako had, on February 26, fixed today for ruling on the bail application and a preliminary objection raised by Kanu.
Ejimakor had, on the last adjourned date, moved another bail application for Kanu’s release. The lawyer, in the preliminary objection, also prayed the court not to allow Kanu’s trial until certain conditions were met by the Federal Government.
He had alleged that the DSS personnel usually seized documents of Kanu’s lawyers, stopping his lawyers from taking notes during visitation and eavesdropping on Kanu’s consultation with lawyers on matters about his defence, among others.