BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
An Abia High Court will on January 19 deliver judgement on the fundamental rights suit against the Federal Government pending before it.
Aloy Ejimakor, one of the counsels to Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday night.
Ejimakor in the statement revealed that the suit which was filed on August 27, 2021, was heard and concluded on the merits on 10 December, 2022 before Justice Benson Anya of the High Court of Abia State in Umuahia.
The suit sought for several orders of court, including an apology to Kanu by the government and his repatriation to UK where he resides as a citizen.
Among others, the case seeks the following Reliefs:
A DECLARATION that the military invasion of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s home in Abia State in September 2017 by the Nigerian government is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of his fundamental rights to life, dignity of his person, his personal liberty and fair hearing as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
A DECLARATION that the arrest of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Kenya by agents of the Nigerian government without due process of law is arbitrary, illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of his fundamental rights against arbitrary arrest, to his personal liberty and to fair hearing as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
A DECLARATION that the torture and detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Kenya by agents of the Nigerian government is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the his fundamental rights against torture and to fair hearing, as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
A DECLARATION that the expulsion of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria by the Nigerian government and his consequent detention and planned prosecution in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 (Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Nnamdi Kanu) is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amount to infringement of his fundamental rights against unlawful expulsion and detention, and to fair hearing, as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
Ejimakor also sought for an injunction that will restrain the Nigerian government from further prosecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 (Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Nnamdi Kanu) pursuant to his unlawful his expulsion from Kenya to Nigeria.
The lawyer also sought for a court order mandating and compelling the Nigerian government to forthwith release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from detention and to restore him to his liberty as of 19th June, 2021.
Ejimakor in the suit also makes a case that Kanu should be repatriated to Britain, his country of domicile and citizenship.
He also seeks a court order mandating and compelling the Nigerian government to issue an official letter of apology to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for the infringement of his fundamental rights and to publish the letter in three national dailies.
