Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday struck out key pieces of evidence presented by the Nigerian government in the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ruling that they were obtained in violation of his constitutional rights.
Justice Omotosho dismissed the two video recordings and three written statements obtained by the Department of State Services (DSS), saying they were made without Kanu having access to legal representation and therefore inadmissible.
Earlier, Kanu challenged the admissibility of the evidence, telling the court that he was interrogated under duress by the DSS, without his lawyer present.
Following this, the judge ordered a “trial within a trial” to determine whether the statements met legal requirements for admissibility.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Omotosho said that although the interrogation footage showed no signs of physical coercion, the lack of legal counsel during the making of the statements was a clear violation of the law.
“The law is clear: under Section 15 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), a suspect’s statement must be obtained in the presence of their lawyer, or if none is available, a representative from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria or a civil society group,” the judge held.
He added that despite being video recorded, the absence of legal representation rendered the statements invalid.
Consequently, the court also expunged the associated video recordings, previously admitted as exhibits PWQ and PWR, from the bulk of the evidence in the case.
Justice Omotosho ruled that the defendant’s statements dated 21st to 24th October and 4th November 2015 are inadmissible as evidence. He also declared that the video recordings of those statements, marked as exhibits PWQ and PWR, are equally inadmissible and are therefore rejected.
Justice Omotosho subsequently adjourned proceedings for June 13th, 16th, 18th, and 19th June 2025 for continuation of the trial.
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