COURT DISMISSES NNAMDI KANU’S N50BN LAWSUIT AGAINST NIGERIAN GOVT

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On Thursday, the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a N50 billion lawsuit against the Federal Government brought by Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB.

In a decision, Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the lawsuit due to insufficient diligence in the prosecution.

Neither Kanu nor the Federal Government had an attorney present when the case was called on Thursday.

Justice Ekwo noted that the Federal Government had a lawyer present in court on the final day of the adjournment, but the IPOB leader did not have a lawyer.

The judge dismissed the case after stating that there had been three adjournments since there was no representation.

In the lawsuit with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CS/462/2022, Kanu named the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the first and second defendants, respectively.

Kanu, who sued the defendants on grounds that they had violated his rights, claimed that he had been abducted from Kenya and sent to Nigeria to face prosecution.

He wants the court to determine “whether the way and manner in which he was abducted in Kenya and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria is consistent with extant laws.”

Specifically, he cited “the provisions of Article 12 (4) of the African Charter on human and peoples rights (ratification and enforcement) Act Cap A9 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and Article/Part 5 (a) of the African Charter’s principles and guidelines on human and peoples’ rights while countering terrorism in Africa.”

Kanu also wants the court to determine “whether by the operation of Section 15 of the Extradition Act Cap E25, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, the plaintiff can be competently/legally tried for offences stated in counts 1 to 14 of the 15-count amended charge.

He said the counts “are not the offences for which he was surrendered or extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria.”

The IPOB leader is requesting 11 reliefs in the original summons, one of which is an order to free him from the custody of the Department of State Services, or DSS.

Additionally, he is asking for an injunction prohibiting the defendants from pursuing him further in connection with criminal case number FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, which is presently ongoing before a sister court chaired by Justice Binta Nyako.

Kanu also asked the court to award the sum of N100 million to him “as the cost of this action.”

But in a notice of preliminary objection dated June 6, 2022 but filed June 27, 2022, the Federal Government and AGF prayed the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as “an abuse of court process.”

The defendants’ first point of contention was that Kanu had already filed a lawsuit with comparable circumstances before the Federal High Court’s Umuahia Division (suit number: FHC/UM/CS/30/2022).

The two defendants, they added, were parties to the lawsuit.

The defendants contend that this makes the lawsuit an abuse of the legal system, depriving the court of the authority to consider the case at hand.

During one of the proceedings, Aloy Ejimakor informed Justice Ekwo that he had submitted a notice requesting a change of counsel.

Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, filed the lawsuit on April 7, 2022, and Ejimakor informed the court that he would be taking over the case.