Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed readiness to still keep in custody the discharged and acquitted detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The Federal Government after National Security Council meeting in Abuja made the position known on Friday.

Federal Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had on Thursday ruled that Nnamdi Kanu should be allowed to go home as he has no case to answer after the Appellate court reviewed the seven count charges of Terrorism leveled against him by the federal government.

The Nation Newspaper report on Friday reads thus:

The National Security Council has clarified the Federal Government’s position on the status of the case against leader of proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

It said Kanu still has a case to answer.

An Appeal Court, in Abuja on Thursday, thrashed the case of terrorism leveled against Kanu, a decision which sent a frenzy out to various quarters.

It was translated to mean his likely immediate release from detention.

However, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said Kanu had not been acquitted as there are other cases against him.

Towing same line of reason, the National Security Council, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, said government is considering the next step to take on the matter in due course.

It noted that Kanu had not been acquitted though discharged of some issues in the cases against him.

Addressing State House Correspondents after the Council meeting, the Minister of Police Affairs Maigari Dingyadi, joined by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, said what would become of the case against Kanu would be decided in coming days.

“Similarly, the issue of Kanu has also been raised and Council was briefed on the state of things on the matter and it was observed that Kanu was discharged, but he was not acquitted.

“So, government is considering the appropriate action to be taken on the matter and Nigerians will be notified of the position that will finally be taken on the matter in due course”, Dingyadi said.

He said the council only discussed the Appeal Court judgement but noted that solutions to these kind of matters can be considered as long as they are not subjudice.

The council also directed the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in conjuction with the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (OSGF) to set up a high-powered investigation committee into the crude oil theft in the Niger Delta with a view to unraveling those behind it.

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