A Federal High Court in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, has ordered the Federal Government to pay N500 million in damages to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, following his illegal kidnapping and human rights abuse in Kenya.
The Court also ordered that he be returned to Kenya, from which he was extradited to Nigeria on June 19, 2021.
The Court, presided over by Justice E. N Anyadike, insisted that Kanu’s extradition from Kenya without due process was a flagrant violation of his fundamental human rights.
He ruled that the respondent had failed to refute the applicant’s claims that he was arrested, blindfolded, tortured, and chained to the ground in Kenya for eight days prior to his extradition to Nigeria.
Kanu had approached the court through his special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, to challenge his extradition from Kenya on June 19, 2022.
According to Ejimakor, the suit is sui generis (of a special kind) and is primarily aimed at redressing Kanu’s infamous unlawful expulsion or extraordinary rendition, which is a clear violation of his fundamental rights under Article 12(4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights as well as Chapter IV of the Nigerian Constitution.
‘In addition to the rendition, I am asking the Court to redress the myriad violations that accompanied the rendition, such as torture, unlawful detention, and denial of the right to a fair hearing, which is required by law before anyone can be expelled from one country to another,’ he said.
“I’m also attempting to halt his prosecution and return him to the status quo prior to his rendition on June 19, 2021.”
“You will recall that on January 19, 2022, the Abia State High Court decided that portion of Kanu’s fundamental rights violation that occurred in 2017.” Despite the fact that I had made claims bordering on rendition, the Court declined jurisdiction on the grounds that rendition, as it is related to extradition, falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court. This influenced my decision to file the suit in the Federal High Court.
“To be sure, Nnamdi Kanu’s extraordinary rendition raised a slew of legal issues that cut across multiple jurisdictions in Nigeria, as well as the international legal order.” In other words, the rendition has taken the Kanu case far beyond the confines of the Abuja trial, opening up new legal avenues that must be pursued vigorously before other courts and tribunals both within and outside of Nigeria.
“As a result, this case before the Federal High Court in Umuahia is one of many seeking a definitive judicial pronouncement on the constitutionality of extraordinary rendition.” There are also ones in the United Kingdom, Kenya, the African Union, and the United Nations.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the highly competent and dedicated legal team that I am leading in the prosecution of this complex case.” Barristers Patrick Agazie, Ifeyinwa Nworgu, Tochukwu Arugbuonye, Franklin Amandi, Ohaeto Uwazie, and Mandela Umegborogu deserve special mention.”
“The following are the specific reliefs that I requested in the suit for ease of reference and to avoid any doubt.”
Speaking to journalists shortly after the decision, Ejimakor stated that the decision demonstrated that the court is still the common man’s last hope.
He urged the federal government to follow the court’s ruling and return Kanu to Kenya.
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