By Anthony Ochela, Abuja
Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has issued an order barring a lady identified as Favour from attending proceedings in the ongoing terrorism trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The lady, said to be sister-in-law to Kanu, who was in court, was also barred from further entering the premises of the court in Abuja, except where she is personally involved in any other case in the court.
Justice James Omotosho issued the orders after holding her in contempt of the court for engaging in a live broadcast and publicity of the court’s proceedings on her social media platform.
Justice Omotosho noted that Favour was in the habit of publishing live what was happening in the court while proceedings were on and inviting comments from her followers.
The judge said Favour’s conduct was disrespectful of the institution of the court and amounted to contempt in the face of the court.
Justice Omotosho threatened to order Favour’s arrest should she persist in her contemptuous conduct.
The judge, who ordered her out of the court, noted that the latest was the third time Favour would engage in unauthorised publication of proceedings while the court was in session.
Justice Omotosho recalled that he had earlier had cause to bar Favour from three sessions of the court’s sitting when she live-streamed the court’s proceedings.
The judge said henceforth, he will send whoever engages in conduct similar to that of Favour to prison and also warned lawyers who engage in similar conduct to desist from it.
Earlier in a ruling, Justice Omotosho upheld the objection raised by Kanu’s legal team to the admissibility of statements obtained from the defendant by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the absence of his lawyers.
The judge held that the statements were not admissible on the grounds that the DSS failed to comply with the provision of Section 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 which he said, made it mandatory that a suspect’s lawyer or any person of his/her choice must be available when he/she is to write a statement.
Justice Omotosho proceeded to mark the statements rejected and also expunged from the court’s record the video recordings of the interview and statement writing sessions that Kanu had with DSS officials in October 2015.
The video recordings were earlier admitted in evidence by the court during Wednesday’s proceedings and marked: Exhibits PWQ and PWR.
In continuing his testimony on Thursday, the third prosecution witness (PW3), who was led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Suraj Saida (SAN), identified a video recording of an interview session Kanu had with an online platform, Sarahara Reporters.
The video, saved on a disc, was admitted by the court as evidence and later played.
In the video, Kanu was heard calling Nigeria a zoo, making allegations against some prominent Igbo figures and threatening to deal with them.
Kanu accused former Minister of Foreign Affairs, General Ike Nwanchukwu, of killing Igbos and also accused ex-Anambra Governor Jim Nwobodo, of betraying Alex Ekweme, a fellow Igbo man
He equally accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Peter Obi, of killing some Igbos and having their corpses dumped in a river.
The defendant also accused the ex-governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha single-handedly islamising the state.
Also in the video, Kanu was heard threatening violence if his Biafra objective was not achieved.
He said if Biafra is not granted, what is happening in Somalia will be like a child’s play compared to what will befall Nigeria, which he referred to as a zoo.
Kanu added, “If they do not give us Biafra, there will be nothing living in the zoo. Nothing will survive there.
“I do not see Biafra happening peacefully. There is no freedom out of a peaceful process,” he said.
Kanu said he welcomed the attack on Enugu State’s government house, adding that he will support anything that can overthrow the existing corrupt establishment.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer, Paul Erokoro (SAN), PW3 said he did not investigate the veracity of the allegations made by Kanu against the named prominent Igbo indigenes.
The witness, an operative of the DSS, said his assignment was only to ascertain from Kanu if he actually granted the interview, which he said the defendant confirmed.
PW3 said he was not aware that General Nwanchukwu, Nwobodo, Okorocha and Obi, whom Kanu made allegations against in the interview, were killed after the last national conference.
Justice Omotosho adjourned further hearing in the case to June 13.
