ABUJA, Nigeria (CHATNEWSTV) — Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has requested the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer his case to a court in Nigeria’s South-East or South-South regions, rather than reassign it to Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako.
The appeal was made Wednesday by Kanu’s legal team, led by Special Counsel Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, ahead of the next court date. Kanu had earlier sought the recusal of Justice Murtala-Nyako, a request the judge granted on September 24, 2024. However, Kanu’s legal team expressed concern that the case had been reassigned to the same judge, a move they described as contradictory.
“Due to its constitutional implications, Onyendu [Kanu] instructed the legal team to take certain prompt steps to ensure that his case is not handled by the same Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako,” Ejimakor said in a statement after a routine visit to Kanu at the Department of State Services (DSS) facility.
Ejimakor stressed, “Should the case still lie with Justice Murtala-Nyako, it would mean that the same court is disobeying an order that it made.”
Kanu urged the Chief Judge to consider transferring the case to courts in Umuahia, Awka, Enugu, Asaba, or Port Harcourt, regions he argued are more connected to the alleged offenses.
The development adds another layer of complexity to Kanu’s legal battles, which remain a focal point of Nigeria’s ongoing discussions on separatist movements and judicial independence.
