Nnamdi Kanu
On Thursday, an Enugu State High Court ruled that the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the South-East Governors’ Forum was declared illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void.
This move took place in 2017 when the South-East Governors Forum, headed by former Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, banned IPOB and its operations, subsequently causing the federal government to designate the self-determination group as ‘terrorists.’
Nevertheless, Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, pursued a legal course through his attorney, Mr. Aloy Ejimakor, to request the reversal of the proscription.
Kanu petitioned the court to affirm that the proscription of IPOB was unlawful due to its status as an organization, “composed of citizens of Nigeria of the Igbo and other eastern Nigerian ethnic groups, professing the political opinion of self-determination.”
Kanu requested the court to pronounce his, “arrest and consequent detention and prosecution as illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the applicant’s fundamental rights.”
He implored the court to issue a declaration that, “self-determination is not a crime and thus cannot be used as a basis to arrest, detain and prosecute the applicant.”
He subsequently requested the court to enforce that the defendants be obligated to compensate him with N8 billion in damages, “for the physical, mental, emotional and psychological trauma he was subjected to.”
In his ruling delivered on Thursday, October 26, Justice Onovo concurred with Kanu’s argument and affirmed the proscription of IPOB, “unconstitutional and illegal.”
The judge additionally mandated the federal government to award Kanu damages totaling N8 billion and to issue a public apology to him through newspaper advertisements.
Speaking to the press shortly following the verdict, Barrister Ejimakor, the attorney representing Kanu, stated, “We are grateful that justice has prevailed over this matter since 2017.
The court has reaffirmed the hopes of the common man in the judiciary. You have saved thousands of lives.”