Alleged Terrorism: I’ll call witnesses from Kenya, Ethiopia, others, Kanu tells court

Kanu

The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, on Friday, persuaded the Federal High Court in Abuja to shift the commencement of his defence to the seven-count terrorism-related charge pending against him, till Monday.

Kanu urged the court to shift his defence to enable him to retrieve his casefile from the team of lawyers that hitherto represented him in the trial.He equally told the court that some of the witnesses billed to appear in his defence, would be coming from all parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Kenya and the United States of America, USA.

According to him, his former legal team, led by an erstwhile Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, which he disengaged on Thursday, had yet to hand over the casefile to him.

Announcing himself as his own lawyer, Kanu said he would need to study the casefile to be able to map out the legal strategies that would enhance his defence of the charge the federal government preferred against him.

“My lord, my counsel left the case yesterday, and I have not received the file from them. The few people that would have brought it to me were precluded from seeing me,” Kanu lamented as he applied for an adjournment.

Besides, the IPOB leader who entered the dock with a bundle of documents, stressed that the three days allowed for him to entertain visitors at the detention facility of the Department of State Services, DSS, every week, would not be enough for him to relate with his 23 proposed witnesses.

He prayed the court to expand the visiting days to enable him effectively prepare his defence.
“I will want the court to make an order so that these witnesses that will be coming from different countries, can have access to me,” he added.

Even though Kanu elected to represent himself in the matter, he, however, urged the court to direct the DSS to allow his lawyers to have access to him on non-working days, a request that was granted.