The Supreme Court in Nigeria has declined to order the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.
The separatist leader has been in detention since 2021 despite a Court of Appeal judgment on 13 October 2022 ordering his release.
Hopes were high that the Supreme Court would quash the terrorism charges against Kanu who has been in detention since June 2021 when he was forcefully extradited from Kenya to Nigeria by the Nigerian authorities.
But the court, on Friday, overruled the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which ordered Kanu’s release on bail.
According to the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal was wrong to rule that Kanu could not be tried again based on the unlawful invasion of his home by the Federal Government on 10 September 2017.
The apex court ruled that although the Nigerian government illegally arrested Kanu in Kenya, the separatist leader must face trial for the terrorism charges heaped upon him.
Nnamdi Kanu’s trial will, therefore, continue at the Federal High Court while he remains incarcerated.
In protest against Kanu’s arrest, IPOB declared a weekly work strike, commonly known as sit-at-home in the southeast region observed every Monday.
The sit-at-home was to pressure the Nigerian government to release Kanu from detention, but Kanu ended the work strike in July.
