The Supreme Court has scheduled December 15 as the date for delivering judgment on the appeal filed by the Federal Government against the Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss criminal charges against Nnamdi Kanu and order his release. This announcement came after arguments were presented by Mr. Kanu’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and Tijani Gazali, SAN, who represented the Federal Government.
During the proceedings, the Federal Government appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the Court of Appeal’s judgment, which had quashed the charges against Kanu and ordered his release. Gazali specifically requested that the Federal High Court’s decision, which upheld seven charges against Kanu, be affirmed, enabling his trial on those charges.
In response, Ozekhome argued that Kanu had been unlawfully and unconstitutionally detained by the Federal Government since June 29, 2021. He insisted that the Court of Appeal’s judgment, which dismissed all charges against Kanu and mandated his immediate release, should be upheld. Ozekhome maintained that the continued detention of Kanu violated both local and international laws, emphasizing that no government had the authority to infringe upon citizens’ fundamental rights, as in Kanu’s case.
The Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered on October 13, 2022, had upheld all arguments presented by Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and dismissed the remaining seven counts of criminal charges brought against Kanu by the Federal Government at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The Court of Appeal ruled that the Nigerian government violated international laws in the manner in which Kanu was arrested in Kenya and brought to Nigeria. The court held that the Nigerian government breached the rules of engagement and resorted to self-help by abducting Kanu unlawfully instead of filing extradition charges against him in Kenya.
The appellate court ordered Kanu’s immediate and unconditional release from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) and prohibited the Federal Government from further detaining or prosecuting Kanu on any indictment or charge in Nigeria. Dissatisfied with this judgment, the Federal Government appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the findings of the Court of Appeal and reinstate Kanu’s trial on charges of treasonable felony at the Federal High Court.