Abuja high court strikes out Nnamdi Kanu's N50bn damages suit against federal government

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has lost his N50bn ($31.35m) lawsuit against the federal government after an Abuja high court struck out his case for lack of diligent prosecution.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu has been campaigning for the recreation of the independent republic of Biafra which broke away from Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970 during the civil war. His campaign, which has led to the phenomenal growth of Ipob, has set him at odds with the Nigerian government who him arrested and put on trial for treason.

While the case was still pending, Mr Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds but skipped his bail after flouting the conditions given to him by the court and fled Nigeria. In a dramatic development, in June 2021, Mr Kanu was abducted in Kenya and flown to Nigeria, where he has since been arrayed in court in Abuja, with fresh charges added to the pending ones.

While his substantive case is still pending, Mr Kanu sued the federal government for damages  but today, at the federal high court in Abuja, Justice Inyang Ekwo, struck out the suit. Justice Ekwo observed that in the last adjourned day, while no lawyer was in court for the Ipob leader, while the federal government was represented in court by a counsel.

Apparently, the case had taken three adjournments due to no representation and consequently Justice Ekwo struck out the case. Mr Kanu, who sued the defendants over allegations bordering on violation of his rights, alleged that he was kidnapped from Kenya and brought back to Nigeria to stand trial.

He wanted the court to determine whether the way and manner in he was abducted in Kenya is consistent with extant laws. Mr Kanu also wanted the court to determine whether by the operation of Section 15 of the Extradition Act Cap E25, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, he can be competently/legally tried for offences stated in counts 1 to 14 of the 15-count amended charge.

Furthermore, Mr Kanu was also seeking an order restraining the defendants from taking any further step to prosecute him over criminal charges currently pending before a sister court presided over by Justice Binta Nyako. He also asked the court to award the sum of N100m to him as the cost of this action.

However, in a notice of preliminary objection, the federal government asked the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as an abuse of court process. They further argued that the two defendants were parties in the suit, rendering Mr Kanu's suit as an abuse of court process that deprived the court of the jurisdiction to entertain the instant suit.