The ongoing trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), for alleged terrorism offences, is marred by the insincerity of the Nigerian government, hence it is dogged by dramas, theatrics and scandalous revelations that astound even the trial authorities
By Our Correspondent
On Sunday, May 25, 2025, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), came hard on the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu over what it termed contemptuous and inflammatory remarks against leader of the group, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Kanu is currently facing Federal Government’s charges, in the court, bordering on alleged acts of terrorism and inciting IPOB members against the state.
In a statement issued by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful in Abuja, the outlawed group accused Ribadu of attempt to incite the court against Kanu, for claiming that IPOB and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) were responsible for the attacks on police stations and custodial centres in the South east, even as the trial of Kanu was still ongoing.
According to the IPOB’s statement, “The NSA accused IPOB and ESN of crimes for which no competent court of law has found them guilty, including destruction of police stations and aiding prison breaks.
“This statement is not only manifestly sub judice given the ongoing trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, but it is also a brazen attempt to pervert the course of justice by intimidating the judiciary, particularly Justice Omotosho who is currently presiding over the case.
“If the NSA or any other government official has any evidence against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, let them present it in court before Justice Omotosho. Grandstanding with rent-a-mouth journalists who are ignorant of basic legal decorum, is not how justice is served.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s trial is not just a national matter; it is a global litmus test for the rule of law, for the right to self-determination, and for the sanctity of the judiciary”.
Last May, while Ribadu was given a space to make a presentation to review President Bola Tinubu government’s efforts in tackling the escalating insecurity in the country during the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Summit, the NSA had said, “In the South east, a welcome development is that the sit-at-home orders are becoming increasingly ineffective, key IPOB/ESN figures have been captured or neutralized.
“Over 50 police stations and numerous police posts have been rebuilt. Attacks on security forces have significantly reduced, and social and economic activities are normalizing”.
Ribadu’s allegation elicited sharp reactions especially in the South east region because of the ongoing trial of Kanu. Apart from the IPOB, a South east diaspora group known as the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), took a swipe at Ribadu over the inciteful statement, accusing him of mischievous declaration of Kanu guilty in the media.
The AVID said attributing attacks on police stations and custodial facilities to ESN and IPOB amounted to gross interference with judiciary independence which should attract sanctions from the court.
In a statement signed on behalf of AVID by Dr. Sylvester Onyia, the group said, “The American Veterans of Igbo Descent, an organization representing proud Igbo people who have served or currently serving with honour in the United States Armed Forces, categorically condemns the recent reckless and deeply offensive statements by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
“Let us remind Ribadu that he presides over an Intelligence architecture that stands indicted by its own witness. On 22 May, 2025, a star government witness (PW-BBB) testified under oath that the Department of State Service-Nigeria’s secret police-is under direct control of the National Intelligence Agency, and by extension, the NSA.
“That the same Ribadu now feels emboldened to declare IPOB guilty in the media, even as the trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is ongoing, is an egregious interference with judicial independence that in any civilized society should attract immediate sanction from the court.
“Mallam Ribadu, your statements are not just contemptuous, they are dangerous. They reveal a mindset of a regime that conflates dissent with terrorism, civil disobedience with war crimes, and regional aspiration with rebellion”.
The trial of Kanu appears to be comprised of what many analysts referred to as the good, the bad and the ugly sides in the face of the Federal Government and the DSS seeming desperation to confine the IPOB leader behind bars indefinitely.
But it also appears that the more damning accusations rise against the freedom fighter from the DSS, the more his team of lawyers dig out counter proofs to refute those allegations. For example, in one of the sittings last May, a pivotal point came when Kanu’s defence team played a video clip in the open court, which was admitted in evidence by the trial judge, showing when Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State alleged that the killings in Orlu Senatorial District of the state were not carried out by members of the IPOB or ESN as earlier alleged by a DSS witness.
Uzodinma in the video alleged that the killings were masterminded by opposition parties in the state. Uzodinma also complained against the killing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in Imo State which he blamed on politicians, not IPOB.
Uzodinma said, “Wicked politicians are sponsoring the killings in Orlu. The APC leaders were killed but not one PDP leader has been killed or attacked for once”.
The defence team argued that the evidence directly contradicted the DSS allegations against ESN and IPOB, and also supported its position that many of the DSS allegations against Kanu were politically motivated and, therefore, lacked factual evidence.
During the sitting, precisely on Thursday, May 29, 2025, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja admitted in evidence a video clip of the former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) as well as the video of the DSS Director General, Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, where the latter addressed a gathering of people to the effect that communities should endeavor to create their own first line of defence against insurgency, banditry and other invaders.
However, Ajayi said such efforts must be done under the guidance and approval of security agencies. “The practical approach to mobilizing people is to get everyone involved. It is impossible for the security agencies to deploy to every part of the country.
“What we need to do is to make communities set up first line of defence.
“We have to allow some level of armament for the communities to rise and defend themselves first, but under guidance and approval of security agencies. Time to start is now”, the DSS boss said in the video
In the same video which also contained Okorocha’s, Danjuma had said members of the armed forces were not neutral in the ongoing killings across the country.
Danjuma: “The peace in this state is under threat. There is an attempt for ethnic cleansing in this state and all riverine states of Nigeria. We must resist it. We must rise up.
“The armed forces are not neutral. They collude with armed bandits that kill Nigerians, they facilitate their movements. They cover them.
“If you are depending on the armed forces to protect you, you will die one by one”.
When asked by Kanu’s lead Counsel, Paul Erokoro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to give his personal assessment of what Danjuma said, a DSS masked Prosecution Witness (PW) identified as BBB, said, “I am not here to interpret his statement. The maker of the video should be the one to interpret it himself”.
Erokoro also asked BBB if he was aware the DSS arrested Danjuma for making such inflammatory statement, he said, “I am not aware if my organization arrested him”.
The trial Judge, James Omotosho, had also, in the course of cross examination of the DSS witnesses and Kanu by the Counsels, opened a new case he tagged, “Trial Within Trial”. The case was opened after Kanu had accused the DSS PW 3 of obtaining his statement under duress. Justice Omotosho used the Trial Within Trial to look into the weighty allegation, and after the cross examination of the PW 3 and Kanu, the court struck out evidence of PW 3.
Kanu had informed the court that he was intimidated by the DSS operatives to make confessional statements after his arrest in 2015. But another PW witness identified as CCC insisted that Kanu voluntarily wrote his statements during several interviews between October and November 2015, the video recordings and copies of the interviews were tendered as evidence against Kanu.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho said Kanu could not establish involuntariness in any way throughout his testimony to the DSS. The video clips played in the courtroom showed that Kanu’s statements were given in a pleasant environment devoid of any form of duress or coercion. However, Kanu also complained about the absence of his defence team during the interviews.
Justice Omotosho said the essence of recording a statement in video was to prove that the statement was voluntarily obtained in the presence of the Counsel to the accused. Hence, he ruled thus, “Having established that it is inadmissible, it holds to the law that the video recordings are also not admissible.
“I hereby order as follows: The statement of the defendant dated 21-25 October and November 4, 2015 are inadmissible in evidence.
“The video recordings of the statement are also declared inadmissible, and hereby marked rejected”.
