On Monday, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice filed a modified complaint that includes treasonable felony and Kanu’s suspected involvement in terrorism.
Senator Ifeanyi Uba, the legislator representing Anambra North senatorial district in the National Assembly, has filed a complaint in Abuja’s Federal High Court.
The congressman is seeking an order allowing him to visit Kanu, who is in the custody of the Department of State Services, in a motion filed on October 15. (DSS).
He requested an order allowing him to meet the arrested IPOB leader as part of his parliamentary oversight role and to investigate his alleged involvement in the unrest in the South East.
Senator Uba indicated in an affidavit he personally deposed to that there has been substantial agitation aimed at securing his release, which has devolved into the issuance of sit-at-home orders across the region, a condition he claims is harming the South East’s economy.
He was denied access to the defendant in the DSS detention facility and told that he would have to go to court to get permission to visit Kanu.
Kanu was first arrested in 2015 on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms, and improper importation of goods, among others.
He was initially detained and arraigned in court, but he fled the country in 2017 after he was granted bail for medical reasons.
The embattled IPOB leader was later sighted in Israel, but he was intercepted on June 27 and repatriated to Nigeria to face the charges for which he was arrested – about four years since he jumped bail.
His repatriation followed an operation conducted by Nigerian security operatives in collaboration with international partners.
On July 26, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja adjourned the trial of Kanu until October 21 after the DSS failed to produce him in court.
She faulted the action of the security outfit and asked the prosecution to be diligent with dates whenever she gives one, stressing that it was important for Kanu to be present at his trial.
The judge had also made an order for regimented access to the defendant but declined the proposal of Kanu’s counsel that he should be transferred to a correctional centre.
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