Fundamental Rights Suit: Nnamdi Kanu To Know Fate On January 19

The Abia State High Court has set January 19 to deliver judgment on the fundamental rights suit filed by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Lawyer to the IPOB leader, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed in a statement on Tuesday.

He explained that the suit was heard and concluded on December 10, 2021, before Justice Benson Anya in Umuahia, the state capital.

In the suit he filed on August 27, 2021, on behalf of Kanu, Ejimakor said he sought four declarations and three orders, including that the military invasion of his client’s home in September 2017 by security operatives be declared illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, and that it amounted to infringement of Kanu’s fundamental rights to life, the 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.

He also sought “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.”

Others are, “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 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 three orders. They include, “An order of injunction restraining the Nigerian government from taking any further step in the 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.

“An order mandating and compelling the Nigerian government to forthwith release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from detention and to restore him to his liberty, same being his state of being as of 19th June 2021; and to thereupon repatriate him to Britain, his country of domicile and citizenship.

“An 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 publication of said Letter of Apology in three (3) national dailies.”