IPOB PRESS RELEASE
20/06/2025

The world must take urgent and critical notice of the ongoing sham trial of our irrepressible leader and saviour of our time Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Yesterday, the 19th of June 2025, marks a pivotal moment in a case that has from inception been sustained by a toxic cocktail of deceit, media manipulation, evidentiary fraud, and a calculated campaign to criminalise self-determination.

Following the conclusion of cross-examination, the prosecution led by Chief Awomolo SAN has closed its case. In response, the defence team led by the eminent Chief Kanu Agabi SAN indicated his readiness to file a No-Case Submission, citing the total failure of the prosecution to establish any shred of evidence linking Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to any offence known to law, much less terrorism.

As a result, Justice Omotosho has adjourned the case to 18th July 2025 for the adoption of final written addresses.

But let it be stated with absolute clarity: what transpired in court yesterday was not merely a defeat for the government—it is a full-blown indictment of the Nigerian state’s reckless abuse of the judicial process.

Despite the courtroom being governed by restrictive reporting rules, it is a matter of public record that the last prosecution witness—PW5-EEE, a supposed intelligence officer—collapsed under the weight of cross-examination by the very excellent Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN. The witness was evasive, contradictory, and pathetically unprepared. So damning was his performance that even the prosecution’s lead counsel, Awomolo SAN, had to caution him in open court. Justice Omotosho was visibly exasperated and at several points compelled the witness to answer basic yes or no questions he was deliberately evading.

The government’s last gasp effort at propping up this collapsed case was a laughable attempt to blame Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for the ENDSARS protests—a grassroots youth-led movement that began in Ughelli, Delta State. According to PW5-EEE, the nationwide protest against police brutality was incited by Kanu’s broadcasts, and the government now claims—absurdly—that he was its mastermind. This desperate narrative is not just intellectually bankrupt; it is morally obscene.

Among the disturbing revelations in court yesterday:

No evidence of the so-called 200 security operatives allegedly killed in the South East was presented. No names. No ranks. No stations. No death certificates. Not a single human being was tied to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Yet this phantom claim continues to dominate media headlines, dutifully amplified by government-fed platforms masquerading as journalism.

The assessment report purportedly tying IPOB to security breaches was not even produced in 2020 when these incidents supposedly happened. It was fabricated only this month—June 2025, a staggering admission of falsification that should provoke outrage from every decent human being.

The autopsy reports and coroner’s certificates were unsigned, unverifiable and riddled with forgeries. The unnamed persons who “discovered” these phantom bodies were conveniently absent from the entire prosecution case. This is not law—it is fiction.

We are forced to ask: Why has the Nigerian press continued to ignore these courtroom bombshells? Why are media houses quick to publish every accusation made by the DSS or the prosecution, yet remain mute when those very accusations crumble under scrutiny in open court?

The answer is simple: there is a concerted effort to shield the public from the truth. But the Nigerian public is not helpless. The full proceedings of this trial—including witness testimonies, cross-examinations, and exhibits—are matters of public record. We encourage every Nigerian and members of the international community to file applications for Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the daily proceedings and see for themselves the shocking collapse of the government’s case.

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a man of peace. He is not on trial for violence. He is on trial for daring to speak truth to power and for demanding justice for a long-oppressed people. The government’s case against him is not just weak—it is a monument to state-sponsored falsehood.

History will record those who stood by while injustice was clothed in the garments of legality. It will also remember those who rose to expose it.

The truth is no longer hidden. The records are public. Seek them. Read them. Share them. And let the world see what is being done in your name.

COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.