A State High Court sitting in Umuahia has resolved to judge the suit seeking to stop the ongoing trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the Federal Government on January 19, 2022.
Kanu’s special counsel, Barr. Aloy Ejimakor said the court which was presided over by Justice Benson Anya, fixed the date after concluding the hearing on December 10, 2021, in the fundamental rights suit he (Ejimakor) filed on behalf of Kanu and IPOB.
The suit, which started on August 27, 2021, is seeking 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 (the Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Nnamdi Kanu) under his unlawful his expulsion from Kenya to Nigeria.
It is also seeking an order mandating the Nigerian government to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from detention, restore him to his liberty, and thereafter repatriate him to Britain, his country of domicile and citizenship.
Other reliefs are: “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.
“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, the dignity of his person, his 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 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 his fundamental rights against torture and a 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 (the 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 a fair hearing, as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights”.
