A Federal High Court in Umuahia, Abia State has ordered the Federal Government to return Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to Kenya before his rendition on June 19, 2021. The court also awarded Kanu N500 million in general damages.
Delivering judgment, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, referred to the Court of Appeal’s judgment of October13 in Abuja and granted all the eight reliefs sought by Kanu, which bothered on extraordinary rendition.
Kanu had prayed to the court to redress his infamous unlawful expulsion or extraordinary rendition from Kenya by the Federal Government.
The suit, which was filed in March this year, has the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federal and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and President Muhammadu Buhari as respondents.
The court, today, October 26, held that the expulsion or extraordinary rendition of Kanu is a clear violation of his fundamental rights under Article 12(4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, as well as Chapter IV of the Nigerian Constitution.
It held that the manner of arrest, torture, continued detention and denial of the right to a fair hearing amounted to a brazen violation of Kanu’s rights.
