Legal practitioners have expressed mixed feelings over the judgement by an Abia state high court which ordered the Federal government to pay the sum of N1 billion to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnandi Kanu for violating his fundamental human rights
In separate interviews with BusinessDay, senior lawyers were divided over the merit of the case.
A Port Harcourt based human rights lawyer Churchill Ibeneche praised the Abia high court judge for having what he called “the boldness” to handle the case despite its intricate nature.
He said the Nigerian constitution does not give anybody the right to trample upon other persons’ rights, stressing that the action of the soldiers that invaded Kanu’s home amounted to a breach of his fundamental human rights.
Ibeneche urged the federal government to obey the court judgement
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His views were supported by Kanu’s lawyer Aloy Ejimakor and a United states based legal practitioner, Chika Ebiringa. They both expressed joy at the judgement which they said would further enrich the Nigerian jurisprudence.
“I am happy that at last we got Judgement against the federal government which came despite several threats on our lives and even that of the judge
“I thank his lordship for standing by the truth. It is a victory for rule of law and I hope the authorities will do the needful” said Ejimakor
On his part Ebiringa advised the federal government to obey the court ruling in the interest of peace and unity of the country stressing that Kanu’s continued detention has adversely affected the economy of the south east region.
However, another lawyer and former minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, while welcoming the judgement, disagreed with those asking government to pay Kanu N1 billion saying it would be hasty to do so. According to Wogu, he was certain the federal government would file an appeal. He also queried the N1billion awarded to kanu by the court.
According to Wogu “Good as the judgement would seem I still have doubts if the federal government would accept it without an appeal. Mind you the same Kanu is facing terrorism charges before a federal high court in Abuja. So you dont expect government to sit and do nothing. The Abia high court is court of first instant, there are other avenues available to an aggrieved party in this case the federal government to seek redress. So let’s watch what happens thereafter,” he stated
In his own reaction, Emmanuel Onwubiko, Coordinator of a Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, asked the Federal Government to apologise to Nnamdi Kanu and pay him the N1billion damages awarded to him by a High Court in Abia State.
Onwubiko stated this in a statement he released on Wednesday titled, ‘Pay Mazi Nnamdi Kanu N1 Billion, Apologise Now, HURIWA Tells President Buhari.’
He said his association “Strongly endorses the decision of the Hon judge of the Abia State High Court in Umuahia which directed the Federal Government to pay a sum of N1bn to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
“HURIWA supports the order for Government to tender an apology to Nnamdi Kanu. The matter was about the invasion but we do think that the landmark judgment suffices for the illegal abduction that the Nigerian government subjected him to in Kenya,” he wrote.
President Muhammadu Buhari had during an interview on January 5, 2022, said he won’t interfere in the independence of the judiciary. His response was in reaction to calls by igno leaders for a political solution to the case.
Delivering judgement at the case on Wednesday, Justice Ben Anya of the High Court sitting in Abia State, rejected the government’s challenge of its jurisdiction to hear Kanu’s fundamental rights suit.
Kanu, through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, had initiated the fundamental human rights suit against the Nigerian government.
In the suit, Ejimakor 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.
He 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.
