Abuja — The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a N50 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against the Federal Government.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, who delivered the ruling on Thursday, said the case was struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.
When the matter was called, neither Kanu nor any legal representative from his camp was present in court. Similarly, the Federal Government was also not represented. The judge noted that during the previous sitting, Kanu’s legal team was absent, although the Federal Government had a counsel in attendance.
Justice Ekwo pointed out that the case had suffered three adjournments without representation from the plaintiff, leading to the decision to strike it out.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kanu had instituted the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/462/2022, suing the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation as the 1st and 2nd defendants.
Kanu alleged that he was abducted from Kenya and unlawfully renditioned to Nigeria to stand trial — an act he claimed was in violation of his fundamental rights. He sought the court’s determination on whether the method of his abduction contravened local and international human rights laws, citing provisions from the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Nigeria’s Extradition Act.
Among the 11 reliefs sought in the suit were an order for his release from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), a halt to further prosecution in an ongoing criminal case, and a compensation award of N100 million for the cost of the action.
However, in a preliminary objection dated June 6, 2022, the Federal Government and the AGF urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing it constituted an abuse of court process. They noted that Kanu had previously filed a similar suit before the Federal High Court in Umuahia, Abia State — suit number FHC/UM/CS/30/2022 — with the same parties and issues.
Meanwhile, in one of the previous proceedings, Kanu’s counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, informed the court of a notice of change of counsel, indicating he was taking over the case from Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome.
Despite these legal maneuvers, the lack of continued representation ultimately led to the case’s dismissal.
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