The trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), resumed on Friday before Justice James Omotosho at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
During cross-examination, the prosecution’s principal witness (PW1), identified only as “AAA,” testified that he did not find any instrument of terrorism on the defendant.
The court had earlier granted the Federal Government’s request for its witnesses to testify behind a screen.
The prosecution is led by senior lawyer Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), while the defence team is headed by former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi (SAN).
PW1, an operative of the Department of State Services (DSS), told the court he was among five officers present during Kanu’s interview as shown in a video played in court.
He noted his specific role was limited to “arresting the defendant, obtaining his statement, and escorting him to Abuja for onward investigation.”
On the items presented in court, AAA was asked whether any of them appeared offensive.
He replied, “No.” He said he analysed only Kanu’s phone, which is now part of the evidence, though he admitted that “there was no analysis in evidence because they considered it immaterial to the case.”
When asked whether the items confiscated during Kanu’s arrest still had any relevance, given that 10 years had passed, he responded: “Yes.”
He confirmed there is a record of the items the DSS claimed to have returned to the defendant but clarified that he “didn’t personally keep the records.”
PW1 also said he “did not find any instrument of violence on the lady with Kanu” and “did not consider her company as facilitating terrorism.”
When Agabi asked him directly, “Did you find any instrument of terrorism on the defendant?” he answered, “No.”
Responding to whether he contacted anyone mentioned by the defendant as his collaborators, AAA said, “The defendant didn’t mention any names.”
He also said he did not know whether others were standing trial alongside Kanu in the same case.
Agabi then put it to him: “I put it to you that there’s no other person in the whole of Nigeria who is standing terrorism trial for Biafra agitation except the defendant.”
To this, AAA replied that “some people stood trial with the defendant earlier, but I don’t know the state of those trials now.”
He added that he had read from social media and newspapers that Kanu had supporters, “like Simon Ekpa, who also carried on with the agitation.”
AAA acknowledged knowing that “the DSS is in the process of extraditing Simon Ekpa to Nigeria to face charges.”
When asked whether the defendant was charged with damaging any person’s property, he said, “Maybe not personally and virtually.”
On whether Kanu incited violence, AAA said there were social media messages that contained inciting content but admitted he did not know of “one person who carried out any act of violence because the defendant incited him.”
PW1 also recalled that the defendant referred to Nigeria as “a zoo.”
When asked whether Kanu ever spoke about corruption, youth unemployment, or lack of development in the country, he said he could not remember.
Asked if he recalled Kanu saying that “IPOB was not an armed group and does not give armed training to its members,” AAA said, “I remember the defendant saying IPOB does not bear arms.”
The defence counsel then drew comparisons with killings in other parts of Nigeria.
“There have been killings in Kaduna, Zamfara, Benue, Plateau, and other parts of the North. Are those killings based on any agitation for separation?” he asked.
“To the best of my knowledge, no,” AAA responded.
He also said Nigeria’s highways are safe “to a larger extent.”
Agabi pressed further: “Many Nigerians have been killed on their farms, in churches, in mosques, etc. Schools have been attacked, and students kidnapped or killed. Trains have been attacked, and passengers kidnapped and killed. These killings are not the product of any agitation for separation. Are they?” To this, AAA replied, “No.”
The case, which involves charges of terrorism and treasonable felony, dates back to 2015 following Kanu’s initial arrest in Lagos.
Legal delays have stalled progress for nearly a decade, with Tuesday’s session marking the first substantial opportunity for the prosecution to present evidence and witnesses.
Initially, four people were charged alongside Kanu. In February 2018, Justice Binta Nyako severed the trial, allowing proceedings against the others to continue after Kanu fled Nigeria.
Kanu was re-arrested in Kenya in June 2021 and returned to Nigeria to face trial.
