The Federal Government has appealed the judgment of the Court of Appeal which discharged and acquitted the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, of allegations of terrorism and treasonable felony.
A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Jummai Hanatu Sankey had last week struck out the remaining seven-count charges preferred against Kanu by the government, citing a violation of international law on his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had said Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted of the pending charges before his abscondment in September 2017.
In the seven-grounds notice of appeal filed on Tuesday before the Supreme Court, which included a stay of execution, the government contended that the Court of Appeal erred in law when it struck out the pending charge on the grounds that the Federal High Court where the case was pending lacked the requisite jurisdiction to hear the case based on the alleged unlawful rendition.
Meanwhile, the South East Caucus in the Senate yesterday appealed to the government to obey the Appeal Court’s ruling on Kanu.
The senators, in a joint statement, urged the government against appealing the ruling at the Supreme Court.
They asked the government to consider a political solution to solve the issue in the interest of national unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigerians.
