Court adjourns Kanu’s case against Nigerian govt till October 7

The Abia State High Court, Umuahia, on Tuesday adjourned till October 7, hearing in the suit filed by the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, challenging the alleged infringement on his fundamental rights by the Federal Government.

The vacation judge, Justice K. C. J. Okereke, who fixed the date, said the federal government and five other respondents in the case were yet to file their responses to the suit brought before the court.

Kanu had through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, on September 7, filed an ex parte motion asking the court to award him N5 billion as damages for the breach of his fundamental human rights which began with the 2017 extrajudicial attempt on his life in Abia, his abduction in Kenya, and subsequent extradition to Nigeria.

READ ALSO: South-East Caucus in National Assembly to meet Nigerian govt on Kanu

He urged the court to declare his arrest, extradition from Kenya to Nigeria, torture, and detention as well as the military invasion of his building in Abia in 2017 as illegal and unlawful.

The IPOB leader had earlier secured leave to serve all respondents by substituted means through a publication in two national dailies.

Listed as respondents in the suit marked HIH/FR14/2021 were the federal government, Attorney General of the Federation; Chief of Army Staff; Brigade Commander, 14 Brigade Ohafia; Inspector-General of Police; Commissioner of Police, Abia State; the Director-General of the Department of State Security Services (DSS); and Abia State Director of DSS.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Justice Okereke noted that out of the eight respondents in the suit, only two – the DSS in Abuja and Umuahia – had filed their responses.

The judge subsequently adjourned the case to allow the other respondents to file their responses.

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