The Federal High Court in Abia State, Umuahia, ordered the Federal Government to pay the Indigenous People of Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu, N500 million in damages for his illegal kidnapping and human rights violations in Kenya.
The Court ordered that Kanu be returned to Kenya before being deported to Nigeria on June 19, 2021.
Court orders the Federal Government to return Nnamdi Kanu to Kenya
The leader's extradition from Kenya without using legal channels was, according to the Court, which was presided over by Justice E. N. Anyadike, a violation of his fundamental human rights.
He concluded that the respondent had failed to refute the applicant's claims that he had been detained, subjected to torture, had his eyes covered for eight days, and had been chained to the ground in Kenya before being deported to Nigeria.
Kanu's Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, petitioned the Court to prevent his extradition from Kenya on June 19, 2022.
Ejimakor informed the Court that the suit was of a specific type, with the primary goal of resolving Kanu's infamous unlawful expulsion or extraordinary rendition.
Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh said in a petition to the UN Human Rights Commission, asking the Court to redress the countless violations that came with the rendition, like torture, unlawful detention, and denial of the right to a fair hearing."
He also seeks to halt Nnamdi Kanu's prosecution and return him to the status quo before his rendition on June 19, 2021," he said.
Remember that on January 19, 2022, the Abia State High Court ruled that a portion of Kanu's violation of fundamental rights occurred in 2017.
Even after claims bordering on rendition were made, the Court declined jurisdiction because the arrangement relating to extradition falls under the exclusive judgment of the Federal High Court.
To be sure, Nnamdi Kanu's extraordinary rendition triggered countless legal questions that cut across several jurisdictions in Nigeria and even started the international legal order to boot.
Shortly after the judgment, Ejimakor speaking to journalists, said the decision shows that the Court remains the last hope for the commoner.
Ejimakor calls on the federal government to listen to the court order and return Kanu to Kenya.
