A lawyer for Nnamdi Kanu says the court ignored its own rules to convict him. Barrister Njoku Jude Njoku, part of the legal defense team, made a statement about the IPOB leader's life sentence. Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court found Kanu guilty on terrorism charges. Njoku claimed the judge failed to review proof already accepted into the trial record.
He argued that evaluating the submitted video evidence would have changed the case. Footage of a former army chief calling for self-defense against killers would show Kanu was not alone in that view. Proof from a state governor would clear Kanu of involvement in a specific political murder. Statements from security agency heads endorsing community vigilante groups would justify forming the Eastern Security Network. Njoku said the judge remained silent on all this admitted material.
The lawyer also cited a judicial panel report on nationwide protests. That document blamed security forces for violence, not IPOB broadcasts. He noted Kanu was in complete isolation under DSS custody after a certain date. This made attributing later unrest to his direct orders impossible. Njoku called the court's omission intentional and politically driven. He warned that it sets a dangerous precedent for ignoring evidence. He expressed concern that global bodies have not questioned why a court would dismiss its own admitted proofs. He concluded the ruling risks the entire judiciary's legitimacy.
He argued that evaluating the submitted video evidence would have changed the case. Footage of a former army chief calling for self-defense against killers would show Kanu was not alone in that view. Proof from a state governor would clear Kanu of involvement in a specific political murder. Statements from security agency heads endorsing community vigilante groups would justify forming the Eastern Security Network. Njoku said the judge remained silent on all this admitted material.
The lawyer also cited a judicial panel report on nationwide protests. That document blamed security forces for violence, not IPOB broadcasts. He noted Kanu was in complete isolation under DSS custody after a certain date. This made attributing later unrest to his direct orders impossible. Njoku called the court's omission intentional and politically driven. He warned that it sets a dangerous precedent for ignoring evidence. He expressed concern that global bodies have not questioned why a court would dismiss its own admitted proofs. He concluded the ruling risks the entire judiciary's legitimacy.
