In an interview with News Central TV, lawyer and public affairs analyst Tonye Jaja asserted that if the judge presiding over Nnamdi Kanu’s trial follows due process, he should declare that he has no jurisdiction to try the case.
Jaja explained that since Kanu was brought back to Nigeria through rendition, a method deemed illegal under international law, the court lacks the legal authority to proceed with his trial. He emphasized that legal procedure requires a judge to first determine jurisdiction before moving forward with any case.
According to Jaja, once it is established that a defendant was brought into the country through an unlawful process, such as rendition, the case should not continue. He argued that in Kanu’s situation, the judge ought to acknowledge this procedural flaw and halt the trial.
Jaja noted that while he could not specify the role of some of Kanu’s witnesses, including Minister Nyesom Wike, he confirmed that former Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami played a part in Kanu’s prosecution after his illegal return to Nigeria.
He recalled that even a court in Kenya ruled that Kanu’s arrest and transfer to Nigeria were carried out through rendition instead of extradition.
In his words, “Ideally, if we follow the law, if the judge is to follow the law, he’s supposed to say, I do not have jurisdiction to try this case because of the rendition that was used to bring Kanu back. That’s the law.”
“The way the law works, you have to deal with issues of jurisdiction first. And if a judge finds that he has no jurisdiction, then there’s no trial. Now, I don’t know the role that Wike has played, but I know that Malami was minister of justice, and he played a role because he charged Kanu when Kanu was brought.”
“And the process of bringing Kanu is illegal. So, a court in Kenya has even held that Kanu was brought back by rendition, which is illegal. The proper means to bring him back was extradition, which was not applied.”
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