The Federal Government has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to reject the no-case submission filed by the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Lead counsel to the government, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), made the request on Friday while responding to Kanu’s application before Justice James Omotosho. Awomolo argued that Kanu’s past statements and actions posed a grave national security threat and could not be dismissed as mere rhetoric.
According to him, Kanu made a public broadcast on Radio Biafra where he openly declared his intention to break up Nigeria and create the Republic of Biafra. He maintained that the IPOB leader’s threats were deliberate and incited fear across the country.
“The defendant proudly identified himself as IPOB leader despite knowing the group had been proscribed. He declared the world would come to a standstill. Nigerian law prohibits inciting statements capable of placing citizens in perpetual fear,” Awomolo said.
He further alleged that Kanu ordered his followers to attack security personnel and their families, linking the directive to the killing of over 170 police officers and other operatives.
“The threat to destroy Nigeria was not idle talk, it was calculated to create Biafra, and there are consequences for such declarations,” Awomolo stated.
The Federal Government urged the court to dismiss the no-case plea and compel Kanu to open his defence, stressing that the application was “misplaced and misconceived.”
Kanu is facing a seven-count terrorism-related charge brought by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
