Index to Nigerian Newspapers
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, will today know his fate in the prolonged legal battle with the Federal Government.A court, presided over by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, is expected to rule on a series of applications filed by both Kanu and the Federal Government, including a request by the IPOB leader challenging the competence of the charges against him and seeking his release on the grounds of alleged unlawful detention and infringement of his fundamental rights.Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services since June 2021, following his controversial interception and return to Nigeria from Kenya in circumstances his lawyers describe as “extraordinary rendition”.He is facing seven terrorism-related charges bordering on alleged incitement, running an unlawful group, and acts threatening national security—allegations he vehemently denies.He added that the two witnesses, who appeared masked and behind screens by order of the trial court, gave “materially false” testimony to obscure the true chain of custody of his 2015 and 2021 statements.
Prominent socio-political, religious, and community groups across Nigeria have condemned the Katsina State Government’s reported plan to release 70 suspected bandits as part of a peace deal, describing it as reckless, unconstitutional, and a serious threat to national security. Critics—including Afenifere, the Arewa Consultative Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum, and the Coalition of Northern Groups—argue that granting amnesty to violent criminals undermines justice, emboldens banditry, and ignores the plight of victims in a state where over 1,500 civilians have been killed since 2021. While the Katsina government defends the move as a community-driven peace strategy likened to wartime prisoner exchanges that has led to the release of over 1,000 abductees, widespread opposition persists amid government silence on whether the release has occurred, fueling public anxiety and calls for federal intervention to prevent the normalization of impunity.