Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has filed a lawsuit against Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, the director general of Nigeria's National Intelligence Agency (NIA), for his role in the eight days of his( Kanu's) "false imprisonment " in Kenya.
Nnamdi Kanu
In the lawsuit which was filed on Wednesday, November 23, at the Abia State High Court in Umuahia by Kanu's special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, the IPOB leader is requesting N20 billion in compensation for general and exemplary damages for the violation of his rights, among other things.
According to Kanu's lawyer who spoke to SaharaReporters, beyond Kanu's extraordinary rendition, evidence that was newly discovered, implicated the NIA boss and prompted the legal action.
Ejimakor said of all the lawsuits arising from Kanu's rendition, "this is the first against Ahmed Abubakar, either in his personal or official capacity."
Ejimakor claimed in the suit that Kanu was falsely imprisoned without his consent. He further noted that the Kenyan government has emphatically and officially denied any involvement in Kanu's arrest and detention in Kenya.
Citing the ruling of the Federal High Court of October 26, 2022, in a fundamental rights suit brought by Kanu against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and others which said, " I declare that the manner of arrest and detention of the Applicant in Kenya, his continued detention in Abuja, his subjection to physical and mental trauma by the Respondents, the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to the Applicant amounts to a brazen violation of the Applicant's fundamental right to dignity of his person and threat to life under Section 34 (1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)," Ejimakor stated that the "Claimant hereby pleads this Judgment Order and the Judgment and shall rely on the same at the trial of this suit.
Ejimakor further noted that "By virtue of his public office, the Defendant has a public duty to act in good faith, not to abuse his public office and to ensure that the arrest and imprisonment of the Claimant in Kenya were conducted by the law.
"By falsely arresting and imprisoning the Claimant in Kenya, the Defendant breached his statutory duty requiring him to arrest and/or imprison the Claimant in Kenya only by the law.
Aloy Ejimakor
"The said false arrest and false imprisonment of the Claimant has been condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which through its Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, rendered a binding Opinion directing Defendant's employer (the Federal Republic of Nigeria) to release the Claimant unconditionally and accord him the opportunity of seeking compensation/reparations.
"See Annexure 6, which is hereby pleaded as a document the Claimant shall rely on at the trial of this suit and from which the following material Paragraphs have been culled in seriatim."
In the lawsuit with case number HU/293/2022, the IPOB leader is requesting, among other things, the following reliefs:
"A DECLARATION of this Honorable Court that the Defendant's arrest of the Claimant and his imprisonment of the Claimant at a said location in Nairobi, Kenya falsely amounted to false arrest and false imprisonment.
"A DECLARATION of this Honorable Court that the Defendant acted in bad faith and/or abused his public office in falsely imprisoning the Claimant at the said location in Kenya.
"AN ORDER of this Honorable Court directing the Defendant to pay to the Claimant the sum of N20,000,000,000.00 (Twenty Billion Naira only) being general and exemplary damages.
"AN ORDER of this Honorable Court directing the Defendant to write and deliver to the Claimant, an unreserved personal letter of apology. The letter of apology shall be prominently and boldly published full-page in two Nigerian Newspapers of national circulation, namely: Guardian Newspaper and Sun Newspaper.
"AN ORDER of this Honorable Court directing the Defendants to pay the cost of this Suit.
"AND SUCH FURTHER ORDER(S) as this Honourable Court may deem fit and expedient to make in the circumstance."
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu few days ago also notified the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, of his intention to sue the AGF for N20 billion Naira, for defaming him by claiming that he( Kanu) jumped bail despite a court order clearing him of that allegation.
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