A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed another bail application filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Binta Nyako, presiding judge, also refused Kanu’s plea to be transferred from the custody of the Department of States Services (DSS) to prison.

The defendant’s request to be placed under house arrest was also rejected.

Kanu is standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on treasonable felony as preferred against him by the federal government.

BACKGROUND

In 2017, the court granted Kanu bail on the treasonable felony charges filed against him by the federal government.

However, the court revoked Kanu’s bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to present himself as required.

The IPOB leader was rearrested in Kenya in 2021 and extradited to Nigeria — after being on the run for a few years.

In April 2022, Nyako struck out eight of the 15 counts in the charge.

The remaining seven counts were also quashed by the court of appeal on October 13, 2022, with the judge ordering Kanu’s release.

However, on October 28, 2022, the court of appeal granted a stay of execution on its verdict discharging Kanu, after the federal government filed an appeal at the supreme court.

On December 15, 2023, a five-member panel of the apex court reversed the verdict of the appeal court and ordered Kanu to resume his trial before the federal high court.

BAIL APPLICATION

In the fresh bail application, Kanu asked the court to restore his bail which was revoked in 2017.

In the alternative, he asked to be removed from the custody of the DSS and placed under house arrest, or to be remanded in prison.

The defendant said contrary to the federal government’s claim, he did not jump bail or breach any of the conditions of the 2017 bail, but had to flee the country when soldiers allegedly invaded his house in Abia.

He told the court that he would have been killed if he had not escaped the way he did, and accused the federal government of misleading the court in getting the bail revoked.

He also asked the court to set aside the arrest warrant issued against him by the court while he was out of the country.

He also alleged that he does not get proper medical services in DSS custody and he is unable to properly prepare for his defence due to restricted access to his lawyers.

Delivering the ruling, Nyako refused the application of the defendant.

She noted that those who stood surety for the defendant in 2017 had approached the court and applied to be discharged after Kanu escaped from the country.

She held that the sureties, in their applications, claimed that they were not aware of the whereabouts of the defendant, a scenario that forced the court to order the forfeiture of their N100 million bail bonds.

According to the trial court, the issue is currently pending before the court of appeal.

The court held that having refused Kanu’s request for bail on several occasions, the only option available to him was to take the matter before the appellate court.

However, the judge ordered the DSS to always grant Kanu access to his lawyers not exceeding five persons on every visiting day.

It ordered that Kanu must be given “a clean place” to consult with his lawyers at the DSS detention facility, adding that he must be granted access to a doctor of his choice.

Nyako warned that any attempt by Kanu’s legal team to file similar applications before the court would be regarded as a gross abuse of the judicial process.

“You have an option of appeal, please exercise your right of appeal,” the trial judge added.

Three Americans have been reportedly listed among suspects responsible for Sunday’s coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Sylvain Ekenge, DRC army spokesperson, said the attempt involved “foreigners and Congolese”.

“These foreigners and Congolese have been put out of action, including their leader,” Ekenge said, adding that several suspects were detained and that the situation is now under control.

The army spokesperson did not provide further information concerning the incident.

Lucy Tamyln, US ambassador to the DRC, said she was shocked and very concerned to receive reports of American citizens being involved.

Pictures of two men with their hands clasped were published in local media, alongside pictures of a passport that indicated one was a 36-year-old US citizen born in Maryland.

“Please be assured that we will cooperate with the DRC authorities to the fullest extent as they investigate these criminal acts and hold accountable any U.S. citizen involved in criminal acts,” Tamlyn tweeted.

The army’s announcement of successfully thwarting a coup attempt came hours after armed men attacked the house of Vital Kamerhe, former chief of staff and close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi.
Kamerhe’s residence is about two kilometres from the presidential palace.
Michel Muhima, Kamerhe’s spokesperson, had said the gunmen clad in military uniform engaged the politician’s guards in a shootout, leaving three people dead.

Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, is expected to assume the presidency after Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash as the country gears up for early elections.

The Iranian constitution stipulates that the first vice president take over “in the event of the president’s death, dismissal, resignation, absence or illness for more than two months”.

Raisi, who died on Sunday along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, was nearing the end of his first four-year term as president.

Mokhber’s interim appointment requires the approval of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word in all state affairs.

Presidential elections to pick a permanent successor are to be held within 50 days, according to the constitution.

A council made up of the parliament speaker, head of the judiciary and the vice president are to be tasked with organising the national vote.

Mokhber, 68, was appointed vice president as Raisi took office in August 2021.

The vice president was born in Dezful city in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, where he held several official positions.

For years since 2007, Mokhber chaired the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, a governmental organisation tasked with managing properties confiscated following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The foundation, established in the 1980s, has over the years grown to become a major state economic conglomerate with shares in various sectors.

Iranians head to the polls for presidential elections every four years since the Islamic Republic’s first vote in 1980.

The constitution sets a two-term limit for Iranian presidents.

The position of prime minister does not exist in Iran, and the president — assisted by several vice presidents — is responsible for appointing and directing the cabinet.

AFP