May 20, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed another bail application filed by the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The IPOB leader had been in the detention facility of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 27, 2021, when he was extradited to Nigeria after he was re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021.
THEWILL reports that Kanu had filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the treasonable felony charge the Federal Government preferred against him.
Ruling on his bail application on Monday, Justice Binta Nyako declined Kanu’s bail request, saying the only option available to him was to take the matter before the Court of Appeal.
Noting that Kanu had previously jumped the bail it earlier granted him, Justice Nyako recalled that those who stood surety for him had, after he escaped from the country claimed that they were not aware of his whereabouts; a situation that forced the court to order the forfeiture of their N100 million bail bonds.
Justice Nyako 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.
“You have an option of appeal; please exercise your right of appeal”, the court held.
The court likewise rejected Kanu’s request to be transferred to prison custody or placed on house arrest. It, however, ordered the DSS to always grant Kanu access to his team of lawyers, not exceeding five persons on every visiting day.
Justice Nyako, however, ordered that Kanu must be given “a clean place” to consult with his lawyers at the DSS detention facility and as well be granted access to a doctor of his choice.
