Detained IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has unveiled a blockbuster witness list that includes some of Nigeria’s most powerful figures, former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, former Defence Minister Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), ex-Chief of Army Staff Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), and Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Hope Uzodinma.
In a fiery open letter to Nigerians, Kanu accused the Federal Government and the judiciary of orchestrating what he described as “a serial executive and judicial fraud” designed to keep him in perpetual detention since his controversial rendition from Kenya in 2021.
He reminded the public of past rulings in his favour including the 2017 Federal High Court judgment declaring IPOB a lawful organization, and the 2022 Court of Appeal decision condemning his “extraordinary rendition” as unconstitutional.
Yet, according to Kanu, these judgments were “fraudulently overturned” in secret sessions he claims were “engineered by the executive.”
Now, Kanu has filed a motion before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, indicating readiness to begin his defence with 23 witnesses, divided into “ordinary” and “vital and compellable” categories.
Among those in the second category are political heavyweights and former security chiefs whom he says “must testify under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.”
Kanu, who insists he will personally testify, requested a 90-day window to conclude his defence and vowed not to participate in any trial “that fails constitutional muster.”
Meanwhile, in a related development, Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s special counsel, alongside 12 others, were ordered remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre following their arrest during a pro-Kanu protest led by activist Omoyele Sowore.
As Nigeria awaits the court’s next move on October 24, Kanu’s letter has reignited public debate over justice, human rights, and the political undertones shaping his long-running legal saga.
“If it takes the rest of my life in detention to be brought before an impartial court, so be it,” Kanu declared defiantly.
