The embattled leader of the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) has begun the process of his defence against the terrorism charges filed against him by the federal government. To prove his innocence and refute the charges against him, Kanu will be calling high-profile and influential serving and former public office holders, including governors and ministers, to testify in his case.
Potential defences witnesses
Those he seeks to subpoena as defence witnesses in his terrorism trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja include former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, Nyesom Wike, the FCT ministry; Theophilus Danjuma, a retired lieutenant-general and former Chief of Army Staff (COAS); Tukur Buratai, another retired lieutenant-general and former COAS; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State.
Others are Dave Umahi, Minister of Works; Okezie Ikpeazu, the immediate-past Governor of Abia State; Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, the immediate-past Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Yusuf Bichi, a former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS).
The names of the proposed witnesses are contained in a fresh motion he personally submitted to the court on 21 October. Kanu described them as compellable witnesses.
It is not yet clear what Kanu’s defence strategy is and how he plans to use their testimonies for his defence or whether the individuals were aware of his decision to subpoena them to testify in the case.
The IPOB leader, a separatist advocating for the secession of the Igbo-dominated South-east from Nigeria to form an independent Biafra state, is standing trial on terrorism charges linked to his incendiary and seditious separatist campaigns.
The prosecution, which closed its case with five witnesses in June, blamed the violence, killings and destruction of properties in the South-east on Kanu’s inflammatory secessionist social media rhetoric.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Kanu’s new application was titled ‘Notice of Number and Names of Witnesses to be Called by the Defendant and Request for Witness Summons/Subpoena and the Variation of the Time Within Which to Defend the Counts/Charges against the Defendant.’
It is sequel to a series of recent developments in the case, including a court ruling in September that dismissed Mr Kanu’s no-case submission and ordered him to present his defence.
A court-ordered medical panel, just last week, declared him healthy to stand trial, prompting the judge to schedule Thursday for the IPOB leader to open his defence.
Kanu, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, assured trial judge James Omotosho in his new motion that he was ready to begin his defence as ordered by the court.
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