A federal High Court judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, has recused himself from hearing treason charges brought by the government against Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

 

He announced the decision today, Wednesday, December 23rd in Abuja after Nnamdi Kanu objected to the case, saying it was needless, as the federal government had repeatedly disobeyed previous court rulings.

 

 

Nnamdi Kanu, who was arraigned before Justice Mohammed, told the court before commencement of the prosecution’s plea that he preferred being held in the detention, than subjecting himself to a trial, which outcome will not be respected.

 

He said his previous trials had various outcomes that were abused or neglected by the office of the State Security Service, (SSS). He therefore stated his outright objection to the trial in the court.

 

Mohamed Diri, the counsel to the prosecution, who is also the Federal Director of Prosecution, office of the Attorney General, told the court that based on section  396 (2) of the constitution, the defendant had no right to object to being tried by the court until after the plea is heard.

 

 

But the judge said he was standing down from the case, saying Kanu had the right to reject the trial, 'after all justice is rooted on confidence.'

 

"If any of the parties has no confidence in the court, he has the right to say so", Mr. Mohammed ruled.

 

He noted that the prosecution would have done the same thing if they were in Kanu’s shoes. "Assuming it was the prosecution, if they had no confidence in the court of jurisdiction; would they not have done so?. I hereby remit the case file to the honourable chief judge of this court to reassign it," the judge said.