BREAKING: Kanu Absent From Court As Trial Commences

The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has failed to appear in court to answer to the allegations of treasonable felony levelled against him.

Three of the co-defendants facing the same charges were however brought to the Federal High Court in Abuja by prison officials at about 10am.

His co-accused already in court are the National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu; and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David Nwawuisi.

Recall that Kanu, who is on bail, was declared missing shortly after men of the Nigerian Army invaded his Abia home town few weeks ago. According to his lawyers, he was last seen on September 14, 2017

As at the time of filing this report, Justice Binta Nyako was set to commence proceedings.

Meanwhile, IPOB, in a statement on Monday, in Awka, Anambra State by the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, asked the federal government to release its leader.

The group threatened that “should Nigeria not produce our leader in court on the 17th of October 2017, there will be inevitable confrontation on a scale the human mind cannot imagine, at a time and place of our choosing.”

The statement read in part, “The barefaced lies of the Nigerian Defence Minister, General Mansur Dan Ali, and that of the Buhari regime against our leader and organisation is beginning to unravel before the eyes of the world.

“By admitting publicly that soldiers were sent to Isiama Afaraukwu to look for our leader without any order or warrant from a court of law confirms the contempt in which the Nigerian government holds the rule of law and their judicial process.

“It is therefore incumbent upon civilised nations of the world and organisations alike to ask the APC-led Nigerian government why they decided to send armed soldiers to invade Kanu’s residence.”