The Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium has justified the planned October 20 protest for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
The defence team insisted that the protest is in order because the case against Kanu is dead.
The Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium made the assertion in a statement issued on Tuesday by Barrister Njoku Jude Njoku, in response to arguments that the protest is not necessary since the case is still in court.
In the statement titled, ‘Kanu’s case is dead – and everyone knows it’, the IPOB leader’s defence team stressed that the case is not “in court”, adding that “it is dead and in the grave”.
Stating reasons why the case is dead, the lawyers pointed to the Doctrine of Finality.
“The Supreme Court Judgment on Madukolu v. Nkemdilim (1962) — you will find that once jurisdiction collapses, as was the case in Nnamdi Kanu v FRN (2022), the whole case dies instantly. In addition, we have another landmark Supreme Court case law in Abacha v. State (2002) — once again they reiterate that once an appellate court discharges a man on jurisdictional grounds, no other court can touch it again not even the Supreme Court. Sadly, not many lawyers and judges know about this in Nigeria. They ignorantly think a Supreme Court automatically assumes jurisdiction over a dead case, which is not the case. Criminal law jurisprudence is not the same as civil cases.
“It is known as the Doctrine of Finality. It’s legal granite. When the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu on 13 October 2022, that was the end. Any judge pretending otherwise is dancing on the corpse of the law,” the statement said.
The defence team, in the same vein, noted that the principle of Double Jeopardy had nullified the case.
According to the statement, “Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution says once a person has been tried and discharged, he can’t be tried again for the same offence. Period. No ifs, no buts. Supreme Court is not above the Constitution. This is the critical issue most ignorant legal practitioners don’t understand. So what’s happening now? A constitutional middle finger to Nigerians. A retrial in any form is not just illegal — it’s criminal contempt of the Constitution itself.”
Kanu’s defence team further argued that the terrorism trial is based on the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013, which has been repealed.
The statement said, “Dead Law, Dead Case: They’re still waving the old Terrorism Prevention Act 2013, which was repealed in 2022. That law is dead. You can’t use a dead law to judge a living man. But Nigeria’s judicial morticians are busy dressing the corpse for another round of lies. Justice Omotosho is a typifies your average Nigerian judicial mortician.”
The defence team claimed that the nature of Kanu’s arrest and rendition in Kenya also nullified the trial.
According to the lawyers, the Kenyan government did not approve the IPOB leader’s arrest in the country.
The statement added, “International Angle — Kenya and the Shame of Nations: Kanu was abducted from Kenya, not extradited. Under the principle of double criminality, you can’t prosecute someone for an act that isn’t a crime in the country you took him from. Kenya never approved the rendition. That’s why the ECOWAS Court filings are a ticking time bomb. When that verdict drops, it will stain Nigeria before the world.”
Urging support for Sowore, who is leading the protest, the statement added, “Sowore knows all this — that’s why he’s marching. He’s not being reckless; he’s being righteous. The DSS and their colonial handlers fear one thing: public pressure backed by law and conscience. That’s why they’re sending hungry writers to insult him online. But every insult only proves the protest is working.
“Justice Omotosho knows he’s sitting on a dead case. Kanu showing up in his court isn’t submission — it’s respect for the institution, not for the fraud. This is something the likes of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu does not understand. Justice Omotosho should summon courage and tell the FG the truth: this case is a legal ghost.
“The real criminals are not in DSS custody — they’re the ones online twisting the law in broad daylight. They’re the ones ignoring finality, ignoring double jeopardy, ignoring the repealed Act. They’ve turned the Nigerian judiciary into a stage for political theatre.
“The Verdict of History: Let this echo through every street and screen:
Kanu’s case is dead. It cannot be retried, recycled, or resuscitated. Madukolu buried it. Abacha sealed it. Section 36(9) locked the coffin. No propaganda, no panel, no puppet judge can open it again.”
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