The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, will open his defence on July 18 in the terrorism charges filed against him by the Nigerian government. This date was fixed by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja after the Federal Government officially closed its case against Kanu.
The prosecution team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Adegboyega Awomolo, brought forward five witnesses to support the terrorism allegations. On Thursday, the last witness, identified only as EEE for security purposes, concluded his testimony. He was cross-examined by one of Kanu’s legal representatives, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN.
Awomolo noted that the government had submitted enough evidence, including media content attributed to the IPOB leader, to justify ending their part of the trial. “I therefore close the case,” he declared in court.
Responding to this, lead defence counsel, Kanu Agabi, SAN, informed the court that the defence team intended to file a no-case submission. This legal move means the defence will argue that the government has not provided enough evidence to warrant Kanu responding to the charges.
In his testimony, the fifth witness, a Department of State Services (DSS) officer, explained that he was assigned to investigate events that took place during the 2020–2021 #EndSARS protests. He was not directly involved in investigating Kanu but claimed his findings were linked to the IPOB leader’s broadcasts.
The witness presented three documents related to the destruction and loss during the protests. These were accepted into evidence and labeled PWD2, PWD2A, and PWD2B. According to the reports, 128 policemen, 37 army personnel, and 10 DSS agents lost their lives. The protests also led to the destruction of 164 police stations and 19 INEC facilities.
During cross-examination, the witness admitted that he did not investigate Kanu directly, only the impact of the protests. When questioned by Ikpeazu if Kanu directly instructed protesters in Osun and Lagos to destroy properties, the witness replied, “My assignment was not to investigate Biafra, my assignment was to investigate the #EndSARS issue to which the defendant incited the public.”
The cross-examination also touched on other figures involved in the protests, such as activist Aisha Yesufu. When asked if she was from Abia or Igbo by tribe, the witness said, “I have never investigated her so I don’t know.”
The defence pointed out that the #EndSARS protests were mainly against police brutality, especially the operations of the now-disbanded SARS unit. However, the witness responded, saying: “There are usually two causes of an insurrection – the open causes and the underlying causes. Police brutality could be the secondary cause of the protest, the real reasons for the protests was because some subversive elements incited the public against the government. In this case the defendant’s broadcasts was one of those underlying causes.”
