THE Federal High Court in Abuja has revoked the bail granted to the leader of the now proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, ordering security agencies to arrest him and ensure his presence in court in the next adjourned date.

Justice Binta Nyako gave the order on Thursday, saying that Kanu has failed to attend his trial since being granted bail on health grounds in April 2017. One of the sureties that signed a N100 million bail bond for Kanu is Enyinnaya Abaribe, a serving member of the Senate.

However, shortly after his release, Kanu started engaging in several public activities, contrary to his bail conditions which barred him from appearing in a public gathering of more than ten people and granting interviews.

Though he was released on health grounds, Kanu was never in any hospital after leaving the Kuje Prisons in Abuja where he had been detained, rather he upscaled his agitation for the secession of Biafra from Nigeria.

At the hearing on Thursday, Justice Nyako added that until Kanu is re-arrested, the trial would go ahead in his absence. She then adjourned the matter to June 18 and directed that the parties in the case be notified of the next date for the hearing.

Kanu had been charged with terrorism and treason, alongside four others namely: Bright Chimezie, Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Mmadubugwu and David Nwawusi, but the charges were later separated and the four others were charged with only three counts of treasonable felony. They were granted bail in June 2018, more than a year after Kanu was released.

Kanu’s whereabouts have remained unknown since September 2017, after his home in Umuahia, Abia State, was allegedly raided by soldiers. Since his disappearance, he has reportedly been sighted in Accra, Ghana; Jerusalem, Israel; and London, United Kingdom, where he is believed to be residing presently. He is also a British citizen.

The last time Kanu made any public statement was shortly before the 2019 general election when he took to Twitter to ask his IPOB members not to boycott the elections as he had earlier directed them.

IPOB, led by Kanu, is a secessionist movement that is seeking the independence of the south eastern region of Nigeria. However, the federal government outlawed the group in late 2017, accusing it of being a terrorist organisation.