The federal government is being sued by Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), for designating IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu's attorney, has filed a petition with the Enugu State High Court under case number E/20/2023 requesting a ruling that self-determination is not a crime and, as such, cannot be used as justification for Kanu and IPOB members' detention, imprisonment, and prosecution.
Along with the President of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Minister of Justice, the Governors of the South Eastern states are also listed as Respondents in the lawsuit.
Ejimakor also requests that the court prevent the Respondents from "taking any further step in any criminal prosecutions of the Applicant and members of IPOB on the basis of the said proscription of IPOB and its listing as a terrorist group," according to a statement the organisation made to Prime 9ja Online yesterday.
He wrote that “the suit began with an Originating Application brought pursuant to Order II Rules 1 & 2 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Articles 2, 3, 19 & 20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act and under the jurisdiction of the Court as preserved by Sections 6 & 46 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”
Furthermore, he mentioned that Kanu had claimed that the proscription of IPOB and its listing as a terrorist organisation violates the constitution of 1999 (in its amended version) as well as Articles 2, 3, 19, and 20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act.
The lawsuit has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.