Nnamdi Kanu’s Detention Still Illegal Despite Supreme Court Ruling — Lawyer
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One of the lawyers representing detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, Barrister Jude Njoku Jude, has stated that the Supreme Court is not above the Nigerian Constitution.
Njoku made the declaration in a statement issued on Saturday while reacting to the ongoing terrorism trial of the IPOB leader. He argued that the Supreme Court’s justification of Kanu’s continued detention does not make it lawful.
According to the lawyer, many Nigerians wrongly believe that “the law is whatever the Supreme Court says it is,” insisting that Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution clearly voids any act or judgment that violates the Constitution — including those by the apex court.
He said, “Even the Supreme Court cannot legalize illegality. In criminal law, a discharge and acquittal means total freedom. Section 36(9) says no one shall be tried again for the same offence — that right is sacred and non-derogable.”
Njoku maintained that once a person is discharged by the Court of Appeal due to lack of jurisdiction, as in Kanu’s case, the matter is legally concluded. “You can’t continue a case that never legally existed. To attempt it is legal witchcraft — what lawyers call legal necromancy,” he added.
Citing the Supreme Court decision in Ogbomor v. State (1985), Njoku stressed that any void proceeding remains void forever, emphasizing that Kanu’s ongoing detention is unconstitutional and also violates Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria has domesticated.
He concluded by urging Nigerians to stop “worshipping judges” and instead uphold the rule of law.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s detention is not lawful because the Supreme Court said so. The Constitution is supreme — not the Supreme Court,” Njoku stated.
