The Federal High Court in Abuja has thrown out a N50 billion lawsuit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Kanu had taken the Nigerian government to court, claiming his arrest and return from Kenya violated his human rights.

The judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, gave the ruling on Thursday, April 10. He said the case was dismissed because it wasn’t properly followed up.

On the day of the hearing, no one from either Kanu’s legal team or the government showed up in court. The judge also mentioned that even at the last hearing, Kanu didn’t have any lawyer present, while the government did.

Among the 11 reliefs sought, Kanu requested:
    •    His immediate release from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS)
    •    An order stopping further prosecution in the ongoing criminal trial (FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015)

  •    A compensation of N100 million as costs for the suit

Kanu had filed the lawsuit in 2022, naming the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney General as defendants. He said he was kidnapped and unlawfully brought back to Nigeria, which went against international law and Nigeria’s own extradition laws.

He also argued that the criminal charges against him were not the same ones for which he was returned to Nigeria. But the government disagreed. They said the case was a waste of the court’s time, especially since Kanu had already filed a similar case in Umuahia with the same facts.

One of Kanu’s lawyers, Aloy Ejimakor, had earlier told the court he was taking over the case from another lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who filed it originally.

With this ruling, the court has officially dismissed Kanu’s N50 billion claim, which is a major setback in his legal fight against the Nigerian government.