Ministry of Justice official speaks as Nnamdi Kanu remains missing on eve of trial

 On the eve of his trial, the leader of the outlawed IPOB group, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is nowhere to be found - A justice ministry source has disclosed that whether the trial goes ahead would be determined by Kanu’s appearance and the judge - Kanu’s younger brother and his counsel, both insist that the army knows where the IPOB leader is, as they say he (Nnamdi Kanu) was at his country home when the property was attacked by soldiers Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed pro-Biafran separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), remains missing on the eve of his trial. Kanu, who has been leading IPOB’s agitation for a sovereign Biafran state, is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, October 17; however, his whereabouts remain unknown. It was noted  that the IPOB leader has not been seen in public since the invasion of his Abia country home, by troops of the Nigerian army. In a telephone conversation, his counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, stated: “Only the Army can tell us where he is. Either they arrested him or they killed him. “If he is alive, they should bring him to the court on Tuesday.” Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, has also accused the army of holding his brother in secret. He insisted that his older brother was at the family home when it was attacked by soldiers carrying out the Operation Python Dance operation. He stated: “They were so numerous. They started to shoot from 200 metres (650 feet) away. “People were running for their lives. We had no guns with us.” Speaking further on the hot-button issue, Salihu Othman Isah, a justice ministry spokesman, stated that whether the trial goes ahead would be determined by Kanu’s appearance and the judge. He added: "I can’t tell you specifically what will happen.” Nnamdi Kanu had been in detention since October 215 until April this year, when he was released on bail.