The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has dismissed his legal team led by Mike Ozekhome, SAN.
Kanu also terminated the services of his medical team for failing to provide a medical report validating his alleged heart-related illness.
The decision came barely one month after the Supreme Court’s judgment on Friday, December 15, 2023, which mandated the continuation of Kanu’s trial on terrorism charges.
The case which commenced in 2015, had been placed on hold at the Federal High Court Abuja after the Court of Appeal dismissed the charges in October 2022. The Court of Appeal’s decision was based on the illegality of Kanu’s extradition from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 for the continuation of his trial.
However, the Supreme Court ruled in December that Kanu’s trial on terrorism charges must continue. Judicial sources, confirming the dismissal of the legal team, stated that Kanu was dissatisfied with the Supreme Court’s decision and subsequently ordered the dissolution of the legal team.
The sources further revealed that another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kanu Agabi, would be enlisted as the embattled IPOB leader continues to contest his case in court.
Notably, Kanu’s family had previously dismissed the legal team in June 2023.
A statement issued by Kanu’s younger brother, Kanunta Kanu, and posted on his social media handle, read: “I hereby formally notify @MikeozekhomeSAN and @IfeanyiEjiofor that their services are no longer required in #MaziNnamdiKanu’s case pending before the Supreme Court of Nigeria and all matters concerning him.”
The objective is to have Kanu transferred to Kuje prison, where he will have unrestricted access to people.
