Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu was back in court yesterday for his treason trial but this time with apologies for his February 10 verbal attack on Justice Binta Nyako.

Kanu, who was re-arraigned on a seven-count amended treason charge before a new judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice James Omotosho, yesterday said Justice Nyako “did not deserve the unjust attack.”

Nyako had withdrawn from the case following Kanu’s insistence that she should hands off.

The IPOB leader tendered his apologies through his new lead counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), a former Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister.

The accused appeared calm in court yesterday.

He pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.

Shortly after his plea was taken, prosecuting lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) said he was ready for trial.

Awomolo sought a short time to enable the prosecution team assemble its witnesses. He also applied for an accelerated hearing in the case.

Agabi did not object to Awomolo’s application.

Ruling, Justice Omotosho granted the request for accelerated hearing and adjourned till April 29 for the commencement of trial.

As soon as the case was called yesterday, Agabi began reading from a prepared speech in which he apologised to the court, Justice Nyako and Awomolo over his client’s conduct during the last proceedings before Justice Nyako.

He attributed the accused person’s behaviour on the day to anger and urged everyone to forgive him.

According to Agabi, we may have reason to be angry, but we must be careful about what we say in that period.

He said: “That is why we are urged not to sail in a storm. The defendant in this case, Nnamdi Kanu, was angry.

“He has been angry for a long time and therefore he should not have spoken when he was angry.

“But he did. And he said the wrong things. He attacked the court. He attacked the prosecutor. He attacked his own lawyers.

“For that reason, he has authorised me to apologise on his behalf.

“He is sorry for his attacks on the judge, on the prosecutor and on his defence team.

“Firstly, I apologise to the Hon. Justice Binta Nyako. She is one of our best and most respected judges. She did not deserve the attacks upon her.

“They were unjustified.

“We apologise to Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, Chairman of the Body of Benchers and leader of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria in Abuja.

“Chief Awomolo has since distinguished himself by his humility, his dedication to the profession.

“He deserves our highest respect.”

Of Kanu’s team of lawyers earlier led by Aloy Ejimakor, Agabi said: “It is a credit to the members of that team that they still agree to defend him.

“It is clear from all that has transpired that he acted in anger.

“He spared no one. But by behaving the way he did, he imperiled himself more than any other person.

“I appeal to all those he offended to forgive him.

“We cannot all be of one mind. I respect the fact that when he felt that he had cause to disagree, his courage did not fail him to take a stand.

“And I respect the fact that when the government felt that he had exceeded the bounds of law, measures were taken to correct him.

“Like all men and women, he is not perfect. He holds himself out as representing the cause of the Igbos.

“On my part, I see the Igbos as a people who are irrepressible. They are a forward looking, hardworking and intelligent people.

“They are a very resilient people. They are an adventurous and fearless people.

“Who can oppress such a people? There are, in the nation, communities that can be described as oppressed, but surely not the Igbos.

“The Igbos are a people who, even now, are rendering a good account of the talents that God gave them.

“They have never wallowed in self-pity. There is urgent need to plead the cause of the oppressed in this country.

“A strong and fearless voice such as Nnamdi Kanu has will aid that cause. And if he does so, that is what will truly immortalise him and exalt the name of the Lord and serve the cause of the unity of our country.

“I commend to us all the example of Col. Fajuyi, a Yoruba man, who laid down his life for Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo man.

“These are the kinds of men and women that the nation shall remember and immortalise.”

According to him, this is the time for peace.

“We can and must make peace. The nation is rife with misgivings. There will always be misgivings.

“A time will never come when, as a nation, we shall all be of one mind.

“Whatever our misgivings, therefore, whether on the part of the government or the citizens, we must make allowance for error and proceed with prayer for forgiveness, just in case we may be wrong.

“In resolving our differences therefore, we must strive to save and not to destroy. Let us employ methods of peace and non-violence to resolve our differences.

“We must unite. Whether we are Christians or Muslims, whether we come from the east or the west, the north or the south, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are all children of God and citizens of one nation.

“We must reach out to one another across state and religious lines. We must forget the past and forge a new nation of peace, founded on truth and justice.

“The Nigeria of my dream is that in which Nigerians of whatever religion or tribe, whatever their states of origin, will hold high offices in states other than their own.”

He urged all Nigerians to strive for a more integrated, more united, more efficient and more peaceful nation.

His words: “We must all work ceaselessly for peace and unity. No price is too great to be paid for peace.

“We are never going to have peace until we are willing to go the extra mile, to turn the other cheek and to add our coat when our cloak is taken.

“We should not lose sight of the supreme price that the Son of God Himself paid that we may have the peace that we are now dissipating.

“As he took our burdens upon himself in order that we may be reconciled to God, so we must be willing to take upon ourselves the burdens of one another so that together we can build a nation of righteousness and peace.”

Responding, Awomolo said he was moved by Kanu’s statement and said he had forgiven the accused for all he said against him.

Awomolo said he was not a persecutor, but a prosecutor. He pledged to work to ensure prompt prosecution of the case.

The proceedings were conducted under heavy security protection, with fully armed operatives of the Department of State Services (SSS) providing full security control for the court.

Movements in and out of the court’s premises were restricted, with adjoining streets cordoned off. Vehicular movements were equally restricted around the court building.

Justice Nyako first withdrew from the case on September 24, 2024 upon an oral demand by Kanu.

This precipitated an abrupt end to the day’s proceedings.

That day’s proceedings had commenced without any signs of trouble, with Kanu’s lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, praying the court to postpone hearing on the grounds that his client had not been accorded the opportunity to adequately prepare for his defence.

But before Ejimakor could conclude his submission, Kanu rose from where he sat in the dock and told his lawyer to sit down.

Kanu told Ejimakor: “Sit down! I say you should sit down.” Then, turning to the judge, he said: “my lord, I have no confidence in this court anymore and I ask you to recuse yourself because you did not abide by the decision of the Supreme Court.

“I can understand it if the DSS (Department of State Services) refuse to obey a court order, but for this court to refuse to obey an order of the Supreme Court is regrettable.

“I am asking you to recuse yourself from this case,” Kanu said.

But Awomolo (SAN) urged the court to ignore Kanu’s request and proceed with the trial.

Awomolo noted that contrary to Kanu’s claim, the Supreme Court actually ordered that the defendant (Kanu) should be tried on the seven counts left in the 11 counts contained in the original charge on which he was first arraigned.

He said: “The Justices (of the Supreme Court) ordered this court to proceed with the hearing of the charge against the defendant.

“My lord, you should not recuse yourself on the basis of this mere observation, which does not have anything to do with the Supreme Court.

“It is an incompetent observation. We urge this court to proceed with the hearing,” Awomolo said.

Without seeking the judge’s permission to speak, Kanu, again, stood up, and held out a document he claimed was the subsisting judgment of the Supreme Court.

Kanu proceeded to read a portion of the document where he said the Supreme Court found that actions of the trial court in the case “rendered the impartiality of the judge suspect.”

Kanu then, said: “But my lord, you know that I love you. It is just that this court is allowing the prosecution to railroad me into a trial that is at variance with every provision of the Constitution.”

The defendant then sat down, following which Justice Nyako expressed displeasure about Kanu’s conduct.

Justice Nyako subsequently announced her decision to withdraw from the case, saying: “I hereby recuse myself and remit the case file back to the Chief Judge.”

However, the CJ, Justice John Tsoho, returned the file to her with a directive that a formal proceeding be conducted during which she could decide whether to withdraw or not.

On February 10 when the parties in the case were scheduled to address the court on the issue of withdrawal pursuant to the CJ’s directive, Kanu said Justice Nyako, having recused herself in September, could not go back on her word.