Nnamdi Kanu: fresh trial begins

The Nigerian government has  quietly  filed fresh charges against  Biafran activist, Nnamdi Kanu.

“Kanu and two others are facing fresh charges. They were not in court on Tuesday when the case came up for hearing,” he said.

He said the judge then adjourned to a date to be communicated to both the defendants and prosecution.

Last week, an Abuja Federal High Court ordered the DSS to release Kanu unconditionally and cancelled an arrest  order granted the agency. This came after a case filed at the Magistrate Court in Wuse was quashed after the prosecution  said he was under investigation for terrorism and terrorism financing, crimes that will allow the DSS to hold him indefintely .

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), has been held by the Department of State Services (DSS), the country’s secret police, since his arrest in October for operating pirate Radio Biafra and belonging to an unlawful organisation.

He has emerged  the new face of the Biafra campaign for a separate state for the Igbo people of southeast, who fought a brutal civil war with Nigerian federal forces from 1967 to 1970.

The conflict, which left some one million dead mainly from starvation and disease, was sparked when Biafran leaders unilaterally declared independence from Nigeria.

Kanu’s IPOB has held a series of protests across the country, including the commercial city of Lagos, demanding his release and Biafran independence.

A number of the protesters have been killed in clashes with the Nigerian security forces, with the latest happening in Onitsha last week.