Justice Nyako, who was visibly angry with the way the trial was truncated, ordered that the N200,000 must be paid to the defendants before the adjourned date of March 17.

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami has been ordered to pay N200,000 for delaying the trial of four co-defendants of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
 
The four are being held on treasonable felony charges.
 
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja imposed the fine on Wednesday.
 
The judge ordered that each of the defendants be paid N50,000 by the AGF for the inconveniences they suffered as a result of the absence of the lead counsel to the Federal Government, Mr Shuaib Magaji Labaran.
 
Justice Nyako, who was visibly angry with the way the trial was truncated, ordered that the N200,000 must be paid to the defendants before the adjourned date of March 17.
 
At Wednesday’s proceedings, there was no legal representation for the Federal Government at the time the matter was called.
 
However, as the judge was about to take the adjournment, one Mrs Adewumi Aluko from the Federal Ministry of Justice came in and apologized that the Federal Government’s lead counsel was out of the country.
 
She announced that two witnesses were in court but will not want to proceed in the absence of the lead counsel and sought an adjournment.
 
Her apology did not go down well with the judge who counselled the Federal Government to be more serious in the trial of the defendants.
 
The judge also extended similar counselling to the defence lawyers to stop using frivolous applications to delay the trial which was started in 2015.
 
Meanwhile, Justice Nyako has fixed March 17 for the resumption of the trial.
 

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