Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has indicated his readiness to stand trial in Nigeria if his safety is guaranteed by the court.
Kanu made the remarks through his counsel Ifeanyi Ejiofor, on Thursday at the federal high court in Abuja.
Ejiofor notified the court that they had filed an application to restore Nnamdi Kanu’s bail so he could continue his trial.
“We have an application for bail filed on April 1, 2019. The application was served on the prosecution and it is due for hearing,” he said,
“We urge the court to restore his bail on the ground that the court will guarantee his safety when he comes back to the country to continue his trial,” he said.
But counsel to the federal government, Labaran Shuaibu, informed the court that he had just seen the application.
Labaran Shuaibu also opposed the application to have Kanu’s bail restored.
Shuaibu asked the court to adjourn the matter to enable him to file the necessary processes.
The presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako said the only way he could guarantee Kanu’s safety was to keep him in prison.
She said even judges are no longer safe in the country.
“Even judges are being abducted in the country. So prison is the only safest place for him,” she said.
The judge adjourned the matter till January 16, 2020.
The court had ordered the arrest of Kanu for jumping bail.
It also revoked the bail, which it granted the IPOB leader in 2017, and held that the trial will continue even in his absence.
