The bail hearing for the lawyer to detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, and his brother, Emmanuel “Fineboy” Kanu, was on Wednesday stalled at the Kuje Magistrate Court following the failure of the Nigeria Police Force to appear or file a counter affidavit.
The matter, which came up before Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d, was expected to determine the bail request filed on behalf of the two men and another person arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest held in Abuja earlier this week.
However, proceedings could not go on as planned after the police failed to file their response to the bail motion or attend the session. It was gathered that Barrister Maxwell Opara, counsel to the defendants, approached the court registrar to inquire about the delay, only to be informed that the motion for bail was not listed for hearing.
Magistrate Sai’I’d, who had previously assured that the application would be given prompt attention once the police were properly served, stated that his hands were tied due to the procedural lapses caused by the police’s absence and failure to respond.
According to court sources, the police initially evaded service of the bail motion before eventually acknowledging receipt. The Magistrate had at the last sitting directed that the process be fast-tracked to ensure fairness to the accused persons, who have been in detention since their arrest.
Ejimakor, a well-known legal representative for Nnamdi Kanu, and Fineboy Kanu, were arrested alongside others during a peaceful protest in Abuja demanding the release of the IPOB leader, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since 2021.
The protest, tagged #FreeNnamdiKanuNow, was reportedly disrupted by security operatives, leading to several arrests.