The three-man panel led by Justice Jummai Hanatu said Kanu had no case to answer anymore since the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to try the case in the first place.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has discharged all charges against the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
The extradition process was not followed, so Kanu was illegally taken to Nigeria, the court said. This means that his arrest and forced transfer to Nigeria were unlawful.
The court further said the federal government failed to disclose the location of where Kanu was arrested despite the weighty allegations against him. Adding that, their silence meant they were in agreement with Kanu’s claim that he was kidnapped and forcefully brought into Nigeria.
The court further held that it was illegal to detain and try Kanu in any court since he was brought into the country illegally.
In his appeal, which was filed on April 29 and given the number CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022, Kanu asked to be freed and found not guilty. Kanu was arrested on December 23, 2015, and granted bail on April 25, 2017.
But on Thursday, the Court of Appeal said that Kanu’s kidnapping from Kenya to Nigeria was illegal and unconstitutional. It also said that the Federal Government’s claims that he was a terrorist were not true.
The Appellate Court ruled that the Federal Government violated all domestic and international rules by extraditing Kanu to Nigeria, rendering the terrorism allegations against him ineffective and unconstitutional.
In a decision written by Justice Oludotun Adebola, the Appeal Court overturned and set aside the Federal Government’s accusations against Kanu.
Justice Adebola ruled that Nigeria’s inability to follow the due process through extradition was fatal to Kanu’s charges.
“In view of the fact that the trial court lacks jurisdiction to hear this case because the process of extradition of the appellant from Kenya to Nigeria was unlawful since the due process was not followed, this appeal succeeds,” the lead judge, Justice Oludotun Adefope Okojie, said.
Kanu’s lawyer and human rights campaigner, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, announced on his Facebook page on Thursday that Kanu had finally won.
“Appeal allowed, Oyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU, discharged and acquitted. We have won!,” he wrote.
