The Federal Government and the South East Governors have been ordered by a High Court in Enugu to apologize and pay damages to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, for unlawfully proscribing and labeling his group as a terrorist organization in 2017.
The court, presided by Justice A. O Onovo, ruled on Thursday that the actions of the respondents violated the constitutional rights of Kanu and his group, who are seeking self-determination for the Igbo and other Eastern Nigerian ethnic groups.
The court also declared that self-determination is not a crime and cannot be used as a basis to arrest, detain and prosecute Kanu, who was abducted in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria in June 2023.
The court awarded Kanu N8 billion as monetary damages for the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, property and other damages he suffered as a result of the respondents’ actions.
The court also directed the respondents to publish official letters of apology to Kanu in three national dailies.
This is the fourth court victory for Kanu and IPOB in recent times. Earlier, an Umuahia High Court had indicted the Federal Government and its security agencies over the September 17 military raid of Kanu’s ancestral home in Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia.
Another federal court in Umuahia had ordered the Federal Government to apologize to Kanu for violating his fundamental human rights.
The Appeal Court in Abuja had also ordered the immediate and unconditional release of Kanu, and his return to Kenya where he was abducted and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria.
However, the Federal Government has refused to comply with these court orders and has continued to hold Kanu in solitary confinement at the DSS headquarters in Abuja.