Nnamdi Kanu: One accused, 2 defence counsel!

A mild drama occurred on Wednesday at Wuse zone 2 magistrates’ court, as two lawyers, Gabriel Egbule and Vincent Obetta, battled each other to determine who would represent Nnamdi Kanu, director of Radio Biafra.

Kanu is standing trial on a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, intimidation and belonging to unlawful society, which he pleaded not guilty to.

At the resumed hearing of the case, Egbule, who represented the accused when he was arraigned, announced appearance for Kanu.

But Obetta, an Enugu-based legal practitioner, also announced appearance on behalf of the accused.

The double appearance resulted in serious argument.

Egbule tendered a letter from Kanu’s wife to represent him in court, but Obetta told the court that he received a consent letter from kanu’s father and the indigenous people of Biafra to represent Kanu.

Obetta also said that it was as a result of his inability to appear at the arraignment that Egbule was briefed to appear in the matter.
Prosecution counsel, Moses Idakwo, informed the court that the accused was not in court.

Idakwo said their inability to bring the accused was as a result of the application challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try the matter.

In his ruling, Shuaibu Ahmed, the chief magistrate, said that in a criminal trial, it was binding on the prosecution to bring the accused to court as required by law.

Ahmed adjourned the case till November 23 to enable prosecution produce the accused and for Kanu to choose his legal representative among the battling lawyers.