The Federal High Court in Abuja removed the 50 billion guild guild brought by Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the detained indigenous peoples against the federal government’s Biafra (IPOB).
Justice Inyang Ekwo made the ruling Thursday, April 10, dismissing the case because of his lack of diligence in prosecution. When the matter was brought up, neither Kanu nor the legal representatives of either party appeared in court.
Justice Ekwo pointed out that at the last hearing, Kanu was not represented, although the federal government had lawyers present. The judge cited repeated adjournments without progress and concluded that the lawsuit lacked diligent follow-up and therefore removed it.
In the lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/462/2022, Kanu sued the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney General as the First and Second Defendants. He claimed that his arrest and return to Nigeria from Kenya constituted an illegal deduction and an infringement of his fundamental rights.
Kanu’s legal argument is about whether his kidnapping and extraordinary deduction complies with Nigeria’s obligations under international law – especially Article 12 (4) of the African Charter for Human and People’s Rights, and Article 15 of the Extradition Act, E25 Cap E25, Federal Law of Nigeria, 2004.
He also argued that the charges against him (of 1 to 14 of the revised 15 indictments) were different from the crimes allegedly he was surrendered or sent to Nigeria.
Of the 11 reliefs sought, Kanu asked:
•He was immediately released from custody of the Department of State Services (DSS)
• Order to cease further prosecution in an ongoing criminal trial (FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015)
• Compensation of 100 million in litigation costs
However, the federal government asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit in a preliminary objection filed in June 2022, and described it as an abuse of court proceedings. They argue that Kanu had filed a similar lawsuit in the Federal High Court in Umuahia (FHC/UM/CS/30/2022) and filed a similar lawsuit with the parties and the facts.
The government insists that the existence of earlier lawsuits deprived the court of jurisdiction of Abuja to entertain the current case.
At a hearing, Kanu’s attorney Aloy Ejimakor told the court that he had filed notices asking Mike Ozekhome (SAN) to take over the case, who originally filed a lawsuit in April 2022.
The lawsuit for 50 billion guilds has now been formally revoked through Thursday’s ruling, marking a setback in Kanu’s legal battle with the Nigerian government.
