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Nnamdi Kanu: 8-day vacuum after Appeal Court acquital nullified trial – Global defence team

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The Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium has asserted that an eight-day ‘jurisdictional’ vacuum which ensued after the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, was acquitted by the Court of Appeal had nullified his prosecution by the Nigerian government.

The consortium, comprising lawyers fighting for Kanu’s freedom, made the demand in an advocacy brief, dated 12th October 2025.

The statement, titled “Exposing the Jurisdictional Farce: The Eight-Day Death of Nnamdi Kanu’s Prosecution and the Corrupt Panel Stay That Defied Justice”, is signed by

Dr. Idawarifa C. Ebirien, Co-Chair, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Global Defence Consortium, on behalf of the consortium’s international legal and advocacy teams.

The consortium noted that between October 13, 2022, when the Court of Appeal acquitted Kanu, to October 21, 2022, when a panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani issued a stay of execution of the acquittal, eight days elapsed during which a jurisdictional vacuum existed, rendering the trial extinct under law.

Parts of the statement read: “The ongoing persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), exemplifies a grotesque perversion of Nigeria’s judicial system—a ‘zombie proceeding’ propped up by executive lawlessness, statutory repeal, and a corrupt appellate panel’s ultra vires intervention.

“At the heart of this travesty lies an irrefutable eight-day jurisdictional vacuum from October 13 to 21, 2022, during which Kanu’s discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeal rendered his prosecution legally extinct.

“Yet, in a brazen display of institutional rot, a full panel of three justices of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani and comprising equally compromised colleagues, issued an ex parte stay on October 21, 2022, invoking inapplicable civil procedures to resurrect a corpse.

“This brief dissects the legal deceit, drawing on unimpeachable Supreme Court precedents to reveal how Nigeria’s authorities have weaponized the courts against a non-violent advocate for self-determination.

“Kanu’s Global Defence Consortium (KGDC) calls on the international community, human rights bodies, and global leaders to demand his immediate release, an end to this sham trial, and accountability for those who have subverted justice. Silence in the face of such anarchy invites tyranny worldwide.”

Highlighting what it described as “The eight-day jurisdictional vacuum: A fatal chasm that killed the prosecution in law,” the statement said: “On October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, delivered a landmark unanimous judgment in Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Nnamdi Kanu (Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CR/625C/2018), discharging and acquitting Kanu on all counts in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015.

“The panel unequivocally struck out the charges, affirmed the Federal High Court’s lack of jurisdiction ab initio due to Kanu’s unlawful rendition from Kenya, and vindicated his presumption of innocence under Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN).

“This was no mere procedural hiccup; it was a total extinguishment of the prosecution’s claims, leaving no subsisting charge, no valid remand order, and no enforceable judicial process against Kanu anywhere in Nigeria.

“For the critical eight days from October 14 to 20, 2022, the prosecution filed its notice of appeal but secured no stay of execution. The judgment thus took immediate, self-executing effect, vaporizing the case file and crystallizing Kanu’s liberty as a matter of law.

“During this vacuum: No ‘pending’ proceeding existed to invoke the savings clause under Section 98(3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (TPPA), which had already repealed the underpinning Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2013) on May 12, 2022.

“The 2011/2013 Act found no living application to ‘save,’ rendering any reliance on it thereafter a statutory nullity.

“Kanu’s continued physical detention by the Department of State Services (DSS) transitioned from lawful custody to outright contempt, as no extant order justified it. This interregnum was not a footnote but a death knell.

“As the Supreme Court admonished in FRN v. Ifegwu (2003) 15 NWLR (Pt. 842) 113, ‘once a criminal trial is void, nothing stands to be stayed’, a principle that exposes the prosecution’s later maneuvers as futile necromancy.

“The eight-day gap severed the jurisdictional chain irreparably; what followed was not revival but resurrection of a legal phantom.”

Faulting the stay of execution issued by the Justice Tsammani panel, which it described as “an ultra vires affront to criminal jurisprudence,” the consortium noted that discharges and acquittals in criminal matters take immediate effect and, as such, cannot be stayed.

“Compounding the vacuum’s lethality was the October 21, 2022, ex parte ‘stay of execution’ issued by a full panel of three justices of the Court of Appeal: Justice Haruna Tsammani (presiding), alongside two colleagues.

“This panel, invoking Order 7 Rule 5 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2021 and Section 24 of the Court of Appeal Act, provisions expressly tailored to civil judgments, presumed to suspend a criminal acquittal, arriving eight days too late to arrest what had already perished.

“Such a stay was jurisprudentially impossible from the outset. Nigerian law draws an ironclad line: discharges and acquittals in criminal matters take immediate effect, unstayable to preserve the sanctity of innocence.

“The Supreme Court has etched this in stone: In A.G. Federation v. Abubakar (2007) 10 NWLR (Pt. 1041) 1 at 44, it held that a valid order of discharge is ‘self-executing and takes effect forthwith,’ impervious to appellate suspension. In Onagoruwa v. State (1993) 7 NWLR (Pt. 303) 49, the apex court affirmed that ‘once a defendant is discharged, the presumption of innocence crystallizes immediately; no court may “stay” that right.’

“The Tsammani panel’s fiat was thus void ab initio—a civil-procedure chimera grafted onto a criminal acquittal, in violation of Section 36(5) CFRN and the bar against staying judgments of innocence. Its ex parte nature, devoid of adversarial input, further taints it as an abuse of process, emblematic of the panel’s apparent complicity in executive overreach.

“This was not judicial prudence but a corrupt sleight of hand, shielding the DSS’s contempt and propping up a politically motivated vendetta.”

The statement added: “The myth of judicial continuity: An appeal against nothing, salvaged by no savings clause.

The prosecution’s narrative, that filing an appeal ‘froze’ the discharge, crumbles under scrutiny, for a notice of appeal erects no automatic stay in criminal proceedings.

“It merely preserves the controversy for review; absent a lawful arrest, the judgment marches on unimpeded. From October 13, 2022, the acquittal hollowed the proceedings, rendering the prosecution’s ‘pending appeal’ a chase after shadows, an appeal against an eviscerated nullity that no elastic interpretation of the 2022 TPPA’s Section 98(3) can exhume.

“The panel’s invalid stay, even if timely, could not conjure continuity from contempt. The DSS’s refusal to release Kanu was not ‘faithful adherence’ to a stayed order but flagrant defiance, inviting the anarchy the Supreme Court decried in Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu (1986) 1 NWLR (Pt. 18) 621: ‘The rule of law presupposes obedience to the orders of courts; disobedience is an invitation to anarchy.’

“To launder such lawlessness into jurisdictional legitimacy is a grotesque paradox: ‘Because we refused to obey the law, the law continued to exist.’ No savings clause rewards such perfidy; it saves only what was pendente lite, not what executive hubris entombed.

“The Supreme Court’s remit: A procedural lifeline, not a statutory resurrection. The Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023, remit, setting aside the discharge and remanding for de novo trial on the seven counts, breathed procedural life into the husk of proceedings but wielded no power to reanimate the statutory grave of the 2011/2013 Act, repealed 19 months prior. The remit restored the trial’s form, not its repealed foundation; per Section 36(8) CFRN, it could not retrospectively validate a charge adrift in a statutory vacuum. What now limps before Justice James Omotosho in the Federal High Court, Abuja, is a ‘zombie proceeding’, devoid of legal sinew, animated by fiat, and ripe for quashing as the nullity it is.”

The consortium, in demanding Kanu’s immediate release, urged the United Nations, the African Union, and the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged judicial corruption and rendition crimes in the IPOB leader’s trial.

It stressed: “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s ordeal is not isolated injustice but a canary in the coal mine of Nigeria’s eroding rule of law: a non-violent activist, renditioned abroad and tried in kangaroo courts, now ensnared by corrupt panels and executive contempt.

“The eight-day vacuum slew his prosecution; the Tsammani panel’s stay mocked it; and the 2022 repeal buried it beyond revival. KGDC demands: Immediate release: Enforce the presumption of innocence and quash this farce. International intervention: Urgent action from the UN, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and ICC to investigate judicial corruption and rendition crimes.”

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Police Arrest Pastor, Islamic Cleric And One Other Over Possession Of Human Parts In Oyo

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The Oyo State Police Command has apprehended three suspects, including a pastor and an Islamic cleric, for allegedly possessing human body parts in Ibadan.

The spokesperson for the command, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka, disclosed this in a statement on 24th March, 2026.

According to the PPRO, a patrol team intercepted an unregistered motorcycle and arrested the rider.

Upon searching the pillion, a package containing human intestine was recovered.

The suspect confessed that he had obtained the items from an unknown individual and sells them to one Alfa Onaolapo Taiwo and Pastor Ayodele Taiwo.

Onaolapo and Ayodele were subsequently tracked and arrested.

The duo confessed to purchasing the suspected human parts from Oyategbe Joseph.

“The Oyo State Police Command wishes to inform members of the public of a recent arrest involving the unlawful possession and sale of suspected human parts in Ibadan, highlighting the Command’s commitment to proactive policing and the protection of lives and public health,” the statement read

“In line with its proactive measures to rid the state of criminal activities, the Command routinely conducts stop-and-search operations, which serve as a key strategy for detecting and preventing illegal acts before they escalate.

“It was during one such operation along Adekile area of Agugu that a patrol team intercepted an unregistered Bajaj Boxer motorcycle.

“During a search of the pillion, the rider was apprehended on the spot, and a package containing flesh suspected to be human parts (intestine) was recovered.

“Following this discovery, the apprehended pillion rider, identified as Oyategbe Joseph, male, of Ibadan, was interrogated.

“He confessed that he had obtained the suspected human parts from an unknown individual at Oritaperin area and further admitted to selling the items to two persons: Alfa Onaolapo Taiwo, male, aged 46 years, and Pastor Ayodele Taiwo, male, aged 55 years.

“Acting promptly on this intelligence, the Command swiftly apprehended Alfa Onaolapo Taiwo and Pastor Ayodele Taiwo and brought them to the station for interrogation.

“Both suspects confessed to purchasing the suspected human parts from Oyategbe Joseph.

“The Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, has directed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for a discreet and thorough investigation.

“Upon the conclusion of investigations, all suspects will be charged to court.

“As a result of these coordinated actions, all three suspects are currently in police custody, and the Command reassures the public that every necessary measure is being taken to ensure that those involved are brought to justice.

“In conclusion, the Oyo State Police Command appeals to members of the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report any information regarding the possession or sale of human parts to the nearest police station or security agency, emphasizing that community cooperation remains critical in maintaining law and order.”

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12-Year-Old Boy Arrested for S£xually Ass@ulting Woman In Her 60s And Leaving Her With Serious Injuries

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A12-year-old boy has appeared in a UK court after he was accused of s£xually ass@ulting a woman in her 60s, leaving her seriously injured.

The woman was found in a property north of Birmingham city centre at around 6.15pm on March 18, bleeding heavily from several wounds and barely conscious, a court heard on Tuesday.

The woman was lying on the floor, n@ked apart from a t-shirt, with cuts to her chest and face, prosecutor Colin Charvill told Birmingham Youth Court.

She remains in hospital in a serious condition, having been placed in an induced coma.

A boy aged 12 has been charged with segxwal assault and wounding, as well as an offence of theft on the same day and intentional strangulation in relation to an alleged incident on February 11.

The defendant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared in court today where he indicated pleas of not guilty to all of the charges.

He was remanded to youth detention accommodation by District Judge David Murray ahead of an appearance at Birmingham Crown Court on April 21.

West Midlands Police said in a statement: ‘Our enquiries remain ongoing, but we understand how concerning this will be within the community.

‘Our officers will be continuing to provide reassurance in the local area.

‘If anyone has any information regarding suspicious behavior on 18 March or in the days leading up to last Wednesday, details can be submitted via the Major Incident Public Portal or via 101 quoting log 4888 of 18 March.’

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Christian And Muslim Women Unite To Form Vigilante Group In Jos, Patrol Streets At Night To Combat Crime (Video)

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Amid growing insecurity and its escalating effects on local communities, a group of women in Jos has established an all-female vigilante group to tackle violence, theft, and drug-related crimes in the area.

The initiative, highlighted in a Reuters feature on Tuesday, brings together women who say they were compelled to act following what they described as repeated failures of government security promises.

According to members, the group was created as a grassroots effort to contribute to the safety and stability of their communities.

Armed with little more than whips and identification cards, the women patrol neighbourhoods and confront suspected drug dealers and petty criminals. Despite limited resources, they say their presence has begun to yield results.

“We have been able to help reduce thefts, taking of drugs and other vices,” Blessing Ngozi Emmanuel, identified as the group’s leader, was quoted as saying.

The vigilante team currently comprises about 20 women from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds, reflecting a rare show of unity across religious lines in a region often marked by tension.

They conduct nightly patrols between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., focusing on areas they consider most vulnerable to crime.

However, their work has not come without risks. Some members have reportedly been injured during operations, while others have received threats.

One member said she was warned that she could be made to “disappear” if she continued her involvement.

Despite these dangers, the women insist their mission is strictly to support community security, not to replace formal law enforcement.

They also expressed frustration over the lack of official recognition or support, noting that it was only weeks ago that local government officials visited them, despite months of active operations.

The emergence of the group underscores the worsening security situation in Plateau State, where incidents of violence, abduction, and communal attacks have persisted.

Earlier on Tuesday, SaharaReporters reported the abduction of a senior cleric of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and Chairman of its Board of Trustees.

The cleric was reportedly taken by unknown gunmen from his residence in Farin Gida, Jos. The incident was confirmed by a source at the church’s headquarters, while a message circulated on its official WhatsApp platform urged members to pray for his safety and swift release.

Jos is not the only part of Plateau grappling with insecurity. In February, survivors recounted how suspected Berom militias allegedly intercepted a commercial vehicle in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, dragged out five trader-passengers, and k!lled them.

The attack reportedly occurred along the Nding axis, just hours after seven people were said to have been k!lled in Ratatis community, Dorowa Babuje, by suspected armed bandits.

One survivor, Abdulazeez Ibrahim, a resident of Gangare in Jos North Local Government Area, described how the victims, identified as Hausa traders travelling to Pankshin for business, were stopped and attacked.

Against this backdrop of persistent violence, the women-led vigilante group in Jos represents both a response to insecurity and a reflection of growing public frustration over gaps in official protection.

Promises by the government to ensure safer communities have failed to materialise with many k!lled, kidnapped from time to time.

 

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