Court adjourns Kanu’s trial till October 21

The trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, has been adjourned till October 21.

His trial was scheduled to start Monday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja with many journalists barred from entering the courtroom, a move that was condemned as restrictive by rights groups.

He was arrested in late 2015 in Nigeria but disappeared in 2017 after being released on bail.

“Nnamdi Kanu has been intercepted… He has been brought back to Nigeria, in order to continue facing trial after disappearing,” Nigeria’s justice minister and attorney general Abubakar Malami said in a June 29 statement.

Malami said Kanu faces charges that include “terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms and improper importation of goods, among others.”

Officials did not say where he was arrested but his family and lawyers claim he was taken while in Kenya.