Nnamdi Kanu accuses three judges of gross misconduct in petition to NBA

Kanu in court

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has petitioned the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), accusing some judges of gross misconduct and violations of his constitutional rights.

In the petition dated August 18 and addressed to the president of the NBA, Kanu described his treatment before Nigerian courts as “nothing less than the judicial lynching as against constitutional order”.

“This is not merely a letter of a persecuted man; it is a bill of indictment against a segment of the Nigerian judiciary that has, in my case, converted courts of law into arenas of impunity,” Kanu wrote.

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST JUDGES

Kanu specifically named Binta Nyako, judge of the federal high court; Haruna Tsammani, former justice of the court of appeal; and Garba Mohammed Lawal of the supreme court.

He accused Nyako of remanding him illegally without fair hearing, contrary to section 293 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and section 36 (1) of the constitution.

Kanu also faulted her for failing to inquire into his absence from trial in 2017 after the Nigerian Army allegedly invaded his home in Abia state — an incident he claimed forced him into exile.

“I deposed to this fact in an affidavit from Israel where I had sought safety. Justice Nyako refused to inquire into it,” the petition reads.

On Tsammani, Kanu argued that the court of appeal erred when it granted a stay of execution after discharging him on October 13, 2022.