On Thursday, a court in Enugu ordered the Nigerian government and the governors of the South East to pay N8 billion (about $8 million) to Indigenous People of Biafra leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. For violating Kanu’s basic rights, the court also ordered the respondents to issue an apology.
“Ordered that the Respondents, jointly or severally, send official Letter(s) of Apology to the Applicant (MAZI NNAMDI KANU) for the infringement of his said fundamental rights and publish said Letter(s) of Apology in three (3) national dailies.
For the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, property, and other damages suffered by the Applicant as a result of the infringements of his fundamental rights by the Respondents, Justice A. O Onovo “ordered the Respondents to, jointly or severally, pay the sum of N8,000,000,000.00 (eight billion Naira) to the Applicant (MAZI NNAMDI KANU).”
According to Jerrymusa.com the court also ruled that the Federal Government’s and the South East Governors’ efforts to outlaw and label IPOB as a terrorist organisation were illegal.
The IPOB legal team, led by Aloy Ejimakor, had challenged the 2017 designation of IPOB as a terrorist organisation in court.
In his ruling for case E/20/2023, Justice A. O. Onovo ruled that “the practical application of the Terrorism Prevention Act and the executive or administrative action of the respondents (the Southeast Governors Forum and the Federal Government), which directly led to the proscription of IPOB and its listing as a terrorist group,” were unconstitutional.
In addition, the court ruled, as reported by Ejimakor’s release, that “IPOB being comprised of citizens of Nigeria of the Igbo and other Eastern Nigerian ethnic groups, professing the political opinion of self-determination, and the consequent arrest, detention, and prosecution of the applicant (MAZI NNAMDI KANU) as a member or leader of said IPOB is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, and amounts to infringement of the applicant’s
From the press release: “Today, I led a team of lawyers to a landmark victory before the High Court of Enugu State in SUIT NO: E/20/2023 filed in January 2023 against the Southeast Governors’ Forum and the FG (respondents) for their collective executive actions (in 2017) that led to the proscription of IPOB and declaring it a terrorist group in contravention of Section 42 of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity.
The High Court (chair Justice A.O. Onovo) issued a lengthy decision, reading “that self-determination is not a crime and thus cannot be used as a basis to arrest, detain, and prosecute the applicant, MAZI NNAMDI KANU.'”
“Ordered that the Respondents, jointly or severally, send official Letter(s) of Apology to the Applicant (MAZI NNAMDI KANU) for the infringement of his said fundamental rights and publish said Letter(s) of Apology in three (3) national dailies.
“Ordered the Respondents to, jointly or severally, pay the sum of N8,000,000,000.00 (eight billion naira) to the Applicant (MAZI NNAMDI KANU), being monetary damages claimed by the Applicant against the Respondents jointly and severally for physical, mental, emotional, psychological, property, and other damages suffered by the Applicant as a result of the infringements of his fundamental rights by the Respondents.”