The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday officially issued a trial notice for the October 21 prosecution of the self-acclaimed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in the treasonable felony charges brought against him by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The trial notice entitled “Federal Republic of Nigeria Versus Nnamdi Kanu” was marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/15 and served on Kanu’s lawyer, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor and that of the Federal Government Mr Shuaib Labaran.
Newsmen on Monday sighted the notice, signalling resumption of full-blown prosecution for the self-appointed Biafran leader.
The one-page document showed that the court carefully and explicitly spelt out the dos and don’ts for lawyers of the contending parties to avoid an abortion of the trial which commenced in 2015 when Kanu was first arrested in Lagos upon arrival from the United Kingdom.
The document read in part, “This case will be transferred from the General Cause List to the hearing paper for Thursday 21st October 2021at 9 o’clock forenoon and will come on to be on that day if the business of the court permits or otherwise on some adjustment day of which you will receive no further notice.
“If either party desires to postpone the hearing, he must apply to the court as soon as possible for that purpose and if the application is based on any matter of fact, he must be prepared to give proof of those facts.
The parties are warned that at the hearing, they are required to bring forward all the evidence by witnesses or by documents which each of them desires to rely on in support of his own case and in contradiction of that of his opponent.