Radio Biafra director, Nnamdi Kanu asks to be granted bail

Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has asked a Federal High Court, Abuja, to set aside an order earlier granted to the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to detain him for 90 days over terrorism charges preferred against him by the Federal Government.

Kanu also asked the court to strike out a criminal charge with reference No: FHC/ABJ/CS/873/2015 brought against him by the DSS.

In a motion on notice argued before Justice Adeniyi Ademola, on Tuesday, Kanu applied for an order of the court admitting him to bail and also directing the DSS to obey an order of the chief magistrates' court which had earlier granted him bail in the motion argued by his counsel, Mr. Egechukwu Obetta.


Kanu claimed that the order of the Federal High Court that permitted the DSS to detain him for 90 days pending the investigation of terrorism allegations against him was obtained fraudulently by the DSS.

The grounds of Kanu's application was, among others, that the ex-parte motion dated and filed on October 26 by the DSS and upon which the permission to detain him was granted was an abuse of court process.

The detained Biafran leader alleged that the DSS did not reveal to the Federal High Court the fact of the pendency of a criminal charge already brought against him by the DSS before the Abuja Chief Magistrates' Court.

Kanu also claimed that the magistrate where he was arraigned by DSS was a creation of statute and recognised under the law and that all his decisions and proceedings ought to be binding on all parties until set aside on appeal.

He also claimed that the allegations of sponsoring and financing terrorism against him was a mere allegation and not supported with any evidence that he was preparing to take up arms against the Nigerian nation.

Kanu further claimed that his continued detention, in spite of the order of the magistrates' court that released him on bail was a trespass and in violation of his basic freedom as guarantee by the 1999 Constitution.

He therefore urged the court to set aside the order that he be detained for 90 days on the ground that Section 27 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2003 and any other provision which empowers the court to make order for his detention or any other person beyond 24 hours without trial was against the constitution.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola adjourned till Monday, December 14, for the DSS lawyer, Moses Idakwu, to respond to the motion.


Credit: Nigerian Tribune