A High Court in Enugu has ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria and the South-East Governors to apologise to and compensate the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, News About Nigeria reports.
The court, on Thursday, instructed them to pay the sum of N8,000,000,000 (Eight Billion Naira) as monetary damages for the violations of Kanu’s fundamental rights.
The court ruling also declared as unconstitutional the proscription and designation of IPOB as a terrorist organisation by the Federal Government and the South-East Governors.
The case was initiated by the IPOB legal team, led by Aloy Ejimakor, challenging the 2017 proscription of IPOB as a terrorist organization.
Justice A. O Onovo, in delivering the judgment on the case marked E/20/2023, ruled that the actions taken by the Respondents, including the proscription of IPOB and the listing of the group as a terrorist organisation, were unconstitutional.
The court stated that ‘the practical application of the Terrorism Prevention Act and the executive or administrative action of the Respondents’ directly led to the proscription of IPOB and its classification as a terrorist group.
Furthermore, the court declared that IPOB, composed of Nigerian citizens from the Igbo and other Eastern Nigerian ethnic groups, advocating for self-determination, was not a criminal organisation.
The court found the arrest, detention, and prosecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as a member and leader of IPOB to be illegal, unlawful, and unconstitutional.
This action was considered an infringement of Kanu’s fundamental rights under Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act.
The verdict also ordered the Respondents, both jointly and severally, to issue official letters of apology to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for the violation of his fundamental rights.
These letters of apology are to be published in three national dailies.
