The ECOWAS Court of Justice has
dismissed a suit brought by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, alleging torture, assault, inhuman treatment and the
violation of his property rights by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Kanu, who is also the Director of
Radio Biafra, registered under the regulatory laws of the United Kingdom and
the United Nations, demanded $800 million in compensation.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday,
Justice Dupe Atoki, leading a three-man panel, held that Kanu had failed to
prove the claims and dismissed the request for compensation.
The judge also ruled that Nnamdi
Kanu’s arrest and detention were not unlawful and arbitrary as claimed by the
Plaintiff.
While the Court acknowledged that
Mr. Kanu had the legal capacity to approach the Court for the alleged violation
of his human rights, it adjudged that without a mandate, he lacked the legal
personality to represent the IPOB before the Court.
On the issue of proper parties
before the Court, the names of the second and third defendants (Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Director General, State
Security Service) who are not signatories to the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, were
struck out of the suit as improper parties, leaving the 1st defendant, the
Federal Republic of Nigeria as the sole defendant in the case.
Kanu’s lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi
Ejiofor, filed the case before the Court on 3rd March 2016.
Kanu claimed that his rights to
life, personal integrity, privacy, fair trial, freedom of movement, freedom of
expression, personal liberty, freedom of association, private property, right
to existence and right to self-determination were violated following his arrest
and detention by agents of Nigeria.
He also alleged that he was a
victim of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture inhuman and degrading treatment
while in detention and that his personal belongings were confiscated by the
defendant through its agent.
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