The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, has named former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as one of his witnesses in the ongoing alleged terrorism trial against him.
In a newly filed motion personally signed by Kanu before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the IPOB leader confirmed his readiness to begin his defence as directed by the court.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 and dated October 20, was filed on October 21.
Titled “Notice of Number and Names of Witnesses to be Called by the Defendant and Request for Witness Summons/Subpoena and the Variation of the Time Within Which to Defend the Counts/Charges against the Defendant,” the motion detailed Kanu’s defence strategy.
The IPOB leader stated that the filing was “pursuant to the order of this honourable court made on the 16th day of October 2015, directing the defendant to commence his defence on the 24th day of October 2025.”
Kanu informed the court of his intention to call 23 witnesses, divided into two groups.
He described the first category as “ordinary but material witnesses,” while the second would consist of “vital and compellable” witnesses to be “summoned under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.”
He requested that the court grant a 90-day timeframe to accommodate the number of witnesses he plans to call.
Kanu added that he would “testify on his own behalf, providing a sworn account of the facts, denying the allegations, and explaining the political context of his statements and actions.”
Among the “compellable witnesses” listed by Kanu are Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike; former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd); former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd); Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; and Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo.
Others include Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; immediate-past Governor of Abia, Okezie Ikpeazu; former DG, National Intelligence Agency Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; former DG, State Security Service, Yusuf Bichi; and several unnamed witnesses.
Kanu further pledged to “provide the sworn statements of all voluntary witnesses to this honourable court, and to notify the prosecution within a reasonable time,” assuring that “no precious time of the honourable court would be delayed.”
He also noted that “it would interest the honourable court and the general public that justice is not only done but manifestly seen to have been done.”
This motion follows Kanu’s recent filing of a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction to continue his trial.
This came on the same day a medical panel enjoined by the court reported that Kanu was medically fit to stand trial.
Meanwhile, a magistrate court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the remand of Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, and 12 others arrested during a protest organized by Omoyele Sowore on Monday against Kanu’s continued trial and detention.
The police charged the 13 individuals with criminal conspiracy, disobedience of a lawful order, inciting disturbance, and disturbance of public peace, in violation of Sections 152, 114, and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
The defendants, named in two separate first information reports (FIRs), include Ejimakor, Kanu’s younger brother Emmanuel, Joshua Emmanuel, Wilson Anyalewechi, Okere Nnamdi, Clinton Chimeneze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom, Godwill Obioma, and Chima Onuchukwu.
The magistrate ordered that they be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending arraignment on October 24.
