Court Orders Buhari Govt To Pay Nnamdi Kanu N1b, Apologize To IPOB Leader

Justice Benson Anya of the Federal High Court in Umuahia has ordered the Federal Government and the Nigeria Army to pay N1billion to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Naija News reports that the presiding judge ruled that the fine was for invading the IPOB leader’s house in September 2017.

Justice Anya also directed the government and the Army to apologise to Kanu for the violation of his Fundamental Rights and the illegal invasion of his home.

The presiding judge described the invasion of Kanu’s Afaraukwu residence in Abia State as notorious and brazen.

Justice Anya advised the Federal Government to adopt a political resolution in dealing with issues involving Kanu.

He, however, struck out other reliefs sought by Kanu’s legal team, including his repatriation from Kenya and continued detention by the DSS.

Recall that Aloy Ejimakor, Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, had urged the court to declare the invasion of the residence of the IPOB leader in Abia state in 2017 as unlawful and an infringement of his constitutional right.

The lawyer urged the court to declare his rearrest and torture in Kenya last year as unlawful.

The suit, which Ejimakor filed in August, further sought the court to stop the Nigerian government from prosecuting Kanu, mandating it to release the IPOB leader and tender an apology to Kanu, among others.