Detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu was re-arraigned on Thursday on the amended seven-count charge brought against him by the Federal Government.
Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor said his client pleaded not guilty to the amended charge.
Ejiofor said his client has also challenged the competence of the amended charge and the court’s jurisdiction to try the case, in a fresh application.
The defence lawyer said his client was challenging the court’s jurisdiction on the grounds that the alleged offences were committed in the United Kingdom, outside Nigeria.
Ejiofor spoke after the court’s proceedings from which journalists were excluded by security operatives deployed to the court by the government.
He said the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, later adjourned till November 10 for hearing of Kanu’s application challenging the court’s jurisdiction and the charge’s competence.
He was brought to court around 10am by armed operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) in whose custody he is being held.
Shortly after the proceedings, Kanu’s lawyers took pictures with him.
Journalists turned out in large number for Thursday’s proceedings. Many arrived at the court as early as 7am but were prevented from accessing the court’s premises.
Those eventually allowed into the court’s premises around 9.30 am were not allowed beyond the ground floor while the proceedings were being conducted on the fifth floor of the court house.
One of the security operatives told the journalists that they were instructed to keep them out of the proceedings.
The operative, who wore a mask, later claimed they were waiting for directives from the trial judge on how many journalists would be allowed to cover the proceedings.
The security operative never came back on what the judge’s directive was not even after the proceedings.
Some prominent individuals, like a former Anambra Governor, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife; leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazurike and Senator Ifeanyi Uba (Anambra South) were equally prevented from witnessing the court’s proceedings.
They expressed displeasure about the way they were treated.
Uwazurike said that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which he and others represented in court, condemned the trial in its entirety because they were barred from witnessing the proceedings.
Uba frowned at the way he was treated, arguing that, as a Senator, he ought to be allowed to witness the proceedings.
He said despite filing an application in the case to be allowed access to the defendant, he was still denied the opportunity to witness Thursday’s proceedings.
NATION
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