A federal high court in Abuja on Thursday, December 17, 2015 ordered the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu, director of Radio Biafra and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Justice Adeniyi Ademola in his ruling said the continued detention of Kanu by the Department of State Services (DSS) was unlawful. The court ordered his immediate release.
On Wednesday, Shuaibu Usman of the magistrate court in Wuse zone 2, Abuja, discharged Kanu, on all counts of criminal conspiracy, intimidation and leading an unlawful society brought against him by the federal government.
The government through its agent, the Department of State Services (DSS), had elected to withdraw the case at the lower court for a higher court, which has jurisdiction to entertain charges bordering on terrorism, to take over.
The DSS has held Kanu for at least 90 days despite an order granting him bail in October. After the lower court granted him bail, the secret police procured an order of the federal high court, Abuja, to keep the self-styled leader of IPOB in detention. But his lawyer, Vincent Obetta, filed a counter application, seeking bail for the accused person.
