Consultant and former counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Aloy Ejimakor, has said that sending the Biafra agitator to Sokoto State to serve his jail term is an impediment to prosecuting his appeal.
Recall that barely a week ago Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court had sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment and ordered him to serve his jail term in the Sokoto Custodial Service centre.
However, Ejimakor said moving Kanu to Sokoto would affect his move to appeal the judgement.
In a recent interview with Channels Television, Ejimakor said Kanu has the right to a fair hearing, which would be expressed before the Court of Appeal.
He said, “Right now what everybody should be concerned with is the post-judgement regime. Nnamdi Kanu still retains his constitutional right to a fair hearing under section 36 of the Constitution, which is going to be expressed before the Court of Appeal.
“Or perhaps there could be some post-judgement manoeuvres that could be made before the High Court.
“But for now, it is known, well known to the whole world, and to the court, the High Court, and to everybody else who is a stakeholder in this case that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has no legal counsel. So as I speak, he still represents himself.
“But see, after the sentencing, I was surprised like everybody else who was monitoring this case was surprised that he was plucked from Abuja and taken all the way to Sokoto, which is in the northernmost part of north-west Nigeria.
“So you begin to ask, how can he effectively take and prosecute his appeal or even take the initial steps towards initiating his appeal? Initiating an appeal is not an easy thing to do.
“He has to file a notice of appeal, request for the transcripts of the record of proceedings before the High Court, pay for them, review them, and do all sorts of things, all sorts of activities that will now play out before the Court of Appeal.
“And these things require his personal physical presence to get these things accomplished, unless he hires a lawyer.
“And up to this point, he hasn’t indicated that he’s going to hire any lawyer, or he has not made known to anybody that he has hired any lawyer. So you begin to wonder whether he will be able to prosecute this appeal from his prison location in Sokoto.”
