The judge said she could not exercise her discretion in granting the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, bail.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, again rejected a fresh bail request by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Mr Kanu, who is leading a secessionist campaign for the creation of the Biafra Republic from Nigeria, faces treason charges before the judge, Binta Nyako.
Ruling on Mr Kanu's fresh bail request, Mrs Nyako said she could not exercise her discretion in granting the IPOB leader bail because he had jumped bail.
On 25 April 2017, the judge admitted Mr Kanu to bail on account of ill health after he was incarcerated for 18 months in State Security Service (SSS) custody.
But midway into the trial, the IPOB leader jumped bail after Nigerian soldiers invaded Mr Kanu's ancestral home in Abia State in 2017.
Referencing the incident, the judge said persons who stood as sureties for Mr Kanu withdrew from the suit.
Mrs Nyako recalled Mr Kanu's several unsuccessful bail applications, saying, "You have an option of appeal; please exercise your right of appeal."
The judge warned that any attempt by the IPOB leader's legal team to file another bail request before the court would be "a gross abuse of court process."
Similarly, the court turned down Mr Kanu's application seeking to either be put on house arrest or transferred to a custodial centre pending the hearing and determination of his trial.
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At Monday's proceedings, the judge ordered the SSS to grant Mr Kanu access to his legal team of five persons each visiting day, and a doctor of his choice.
The trial
Mr Kanu was arrested in Lagos in October 2015 when he arrived in Nigeria from the UK. He was later released on bail before he fled the country following the 2017 attack on his home by security officials.
He has been in the SSS custody since June 2021 when he was forcibly returned to Nigeria from Kenya.
The Supreme Court last December ordered Mr Kanu's fresh trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja after it dismissed the IPOB leader's appeal challenging his forcible repatriation from Kenya in June 2021.
In April 2022, the high court struck out eight of the 15 charges brought against him by the government.
But the Court of Appeal quashed the entire proceedings on account of the Nigerian government's violation of both local and international laws in forcibly bringing Mr Kanu back to Nigeria.
The appellate court then ordered his immediate release. It was after that, that the Supreme Court ordered a fresh trial.
