“He is my son, and whatever is the situation, he is my son. They did not bring him to court (on Monday),” says former Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife (of the old Anambra) of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr Ezeife was one of the high-profile Igbo political figures present at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday to witness the continuation of Mr Kanu’s trial.

Mr Ezeife had said on Monday that he was at the court to represent the Ndigbo (the people of Igbo extraction worldwide), accusing President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime of kidnapping the IPOB leader.

“He is my son whatever is the situation,” said Mr Ezeife on Monday while speaking to journalists. “They kidnapped him from Kenya. I am disappointed.”

Mr Kanu was rearrested and repatriated from Kenya to Nigeria by the regime and was charged to court in June. On June 29, the court ordered the IPOB leader to be remanded in SSS custody pending the hearing and determination of the case.

The court also granted the request that the matter get an accelerated hearing to guard against delay in justice and fixed Monday to continue the trial.

But the State Security Service failed to produce the IPOB leader in court.

M.B. Abubakar, the lawyer representing Mr Buhari’s regime in the matter, cited logistics reasons for the disobedience of court order, which had previously said Mr Kanu should be returned to court on July 26 to hear a bail application.

Mr Abubakar said the government was ready to allow the trial to continue in the absence of IPOB, but Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako said the government’s action was disturbing.

“I am also worried why the defendant is not here,” Ms Murtala-Nyako said. “The first step in a criminals matter is to provide the defendant in court.”