By Jane Okeke
Prince Kingsley Kanunta Kanu, brother to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), accusing the Supreme Court of Nigeria of committing “judicial fraud” in its handling of his brother’s case.
In a petition dated September 16, 2025, and addressed to the Commission, which was made available to journalists, Kingsley argued that the apex court’s December 15, 2023 judgment, which remitted Kanu’s case back to the Federal High Court despite an earlier binding discharge by the Court of Appeal, amounted to a gross violation of constitutional and international human rights law.
“The Supreme Court deliberately manufactured a fraudulent legal outcome that preserves illegal detention while denying trial — a constitutional criminality cloaked in judicial language,” Kingsley wrote in the petition.
He recalled that on October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal in Abuja had discharged Kanu on grounds that his extraordinary rendition from Kenya stripped the Federal High Court of jurisdiction.
According to him, this decision was binding under Section 287(2) of the 1999 Constitution, which makes decisions of the Court of Appeal enforceable throughout the federation.
“The discharge was on grounds of jurisdictional nullity — final and incurable. It cannot be overturned, not even by the Supreme Court, without violating constitutional protections against double jeopardy,” he maintained.
Kingsley accused the Supreme Court of ignoring not only the jurisdictional defect but also the fact that the charges were laid under the repealed Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, which was rendered void with the coming into force of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
Quoting the court’s own precedent in Cole v. COP (1987), he said: “A repealed statute is dead and of no effect whatsoever. It cannot be the basis of any legal proceedings taken after its repeal. Any such proceedings are nullity.”
He further argued that Kanu could not be retried under the new law because the requirements of Section 76(1)(d)(iii) of the TPPA 2022, which include double criminality and lawful extradition, were not met, since “Kenya never extradited Kanu; he was abducted and rendered illegally.”
Kingsley insisted that the apex court’s decision violated several legal safeguards, including Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution (right to fair hearing and protection against double jeopardy), Section 1(1) (supremacy of the Constitution), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The Nigerian Supreme Court stands alone in history as having deliberately foisted judicial fraud on a citizen it was sworn to protect,” the petition reads.
“On 15 December 2023, the Supreme Court of Nigeria abandoned law for politics. In doing so, it betrayed the Constitution, violated international law, and institutionalised judicial fraud.”
The petition urged the NHRC to: “Declare Kanu’s continued detention unlawful and unconstitutional;
“Recommend his immediate and unconditional release;
“Condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling as incompatible with Nigeria’s Constitution and international obligations” and urged “the Federal Government to provide restitution and guarantees of non-repetition.”
Kingsley challenged critics of Kanu’s legal team to “point to any historical instance where a Supreme Court anywhere in the world has ever overturned a discharge based on jurisdictional nullity”.
“The time to end this fraud is now,” he declared.
