HURIWA charges Buhari to obey court’s order on N1bn damages to Kanu

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) on Wednesday told President Muhammadu Buhari to prove his respect for court orders by ensuring the payment of the N1 billion damages awarded to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Justice Benson Anya of the Abia State High Court, Umuahia, had earlier on Wednesday ordered the Federal Government to pay N1billion damages to the IPOB leader over the September 2017 invasion of his Afaraukwu country home in the state.

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, shortly after the judgment, the advocacy group urged Buhari to redeem his image and that of the Federal Government by “paying Kanu and apologizing to him immediately.”

The statement read: “HURIWA strongly endorses the decision of the Hon. Judge of the Abia State High Court in Umuahia which, today, directed the Federal Government to pay a sum of N1billion to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

READ ALSO: IPOB leader, Kanu, sues Nigerian govt, others over alleged rights violation, demands N5bn

“HURIWA supports the order for the government to tender an apology to Nnamdi Kanu. The matter was about the invasion but we do think that the landmark judgment suffices for the illegal abduction that the Nigerian government subjected him to in Kenya.

“President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government should prove to be respecters of court orders and pay Mazi Nnamdi Kanu immediately and also swallow their pride and tender the public apology to him.”

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