Three United States-based advocacy groups — the American Veterans of Igbo Descent, AVID, Ambassadors for Self-Determination, and the Rising Sun Foundation — have alleged serious procedural breaches in the judgment delivered by Justice George Omotosho at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the case involving Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
In a statement released on Friday and signed by Dr. Sylvester Onyia (AVID), President Benson Nwankwo (Ambassadors for Self-Determination), and Mazi Maxwell Dede (Rising Sun Foundation), the groups said they were drawing attention to “two grave procedural breaches” that undermine fair hearing and constitutional guarantees.
The organisations claimed the court relied on allegations contained in charges that had been struck out during preliminary hearings. Eight counts, including one alleging Kanu incited the destruction of public property during the EndSARS protests, had been dismissed but were still referenced in the final judgment. “A struck-out count ceases to exist in the eyes of the law. It cannot be revisited or used to form the basis of any conviction. Yet this allegation appeared in the reasoning that led to the conviction,” the statement read.