Kanu: Striking out of transfer motion changes nothing — Defence consortium

By Steve Oko

The Defence Consortium of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has said the striking  out  of the motion seeking to transfer Kanu  from the Sokoto Correctional Facility “changes nothing,” insisting that his case has moved beyond the High Court.

Kanu’s Global Defence Consortium, in a statement signed by Njoku Jude Njoku,   dismissed the ruling as “a footnote in a failed process,” arguing that the matter will be handled by the Court of Appeal.

It accused the Federal Government of imposing a Legal Aid lawyer on him after allegedly creating conditions that denied him meaningful access to his chosen legal team.

The Consortium described the court  proceedings as “procedural theatre” designed to generate headlines and distract from what he termed fundamental defects in the judgment under appeal.

According to the statement, the motion for transfer was necessitated by the need for Kanu to personally interface with the court registry and the Court of Appeal in Abuja to prepare his notice and record of appeal.

It noted that Kanu’s relatives, associates and legal consultants are all based in Abuja, making Sokoto, about 700 kilometres away, impractical.

Kanu had asked the court to order his transfer to a custodial facility within the court’s jurisdiction or, in the alternative, to facilities near Abuja such as Suleja or Keffi, to enable him prosecute his appeal.

The court had earlier declined to hear the motion  on December 4, 2025, after Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel, attempted to move  it, despite  not being a legal practitioner.

At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Asan applied to withdraw from the case, citing irreconcilable differences with Kanu.

Justice Omotosho granted the application and struck out the suit.

Reacting, the Defence Consortium said the involvement of a Legal Aid lawyer who had no access to Kanu in Sokoto only “deepens the farce.”

It maintained that Kanu has been drafting his own court processes because of restrictions placed on access to his legal team.

The statement further alleged that the conviction being appealed is riddled with “incurable defects,” including lack of jurisdiction, conviction under a repealed law, denial of fair hearing and reliance on facts allegedly not pleaded or proved.

“This matter has moved irreversibly beyond the trial court. It is now for the Court of Appeal, where the judiciary itself will be tested,” the statement said.

adding that Kanu’s continued detention in Sokoto merely exposes, rather than validates, the process.

It concluded that the appeal is inevitable and that Tuesday’s proceedings “weakened, rather than strengthened, the judgment under challenge.”

The post Kanu: Striking out of transfer motion changes nothing — Defence consortium appeared first on Vanguard News.