Court Strikes Out Kanu’s Rights Violation Suit Against FG

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal filed by the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in which he accused the Federal Government of violating his fundamental rights.

The case listed the Director General of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, as respondents.

A three-member panel of the appellate court struck out the appeal, ruling that the matter had become merely academic since Kanu had already been convicted and sentenced by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Boloukuromo Ugo, the court observed that Kanu’s counsel, Maxwell Opara, confirmed that his client is currently serving his sentence at the Sokoto Correctional Centre.

The panel held that, in light of this, the request contained in the appeal for Kanu to be moved from DSS custody to Kuje prison was no longer relevant.

The court also pointed out that, as Kanu had previously stated a preference for staying in prison custody, his conviction and subsequent detention at the Sokoto facility already aligned with that preference.

It therefore struck out the appeal on the basis that it lacked merit.

In the appeal, the embattled IPOB leader had contested the ruling delivered on July 3 by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, which dismissed his suit seeking the enforcement of his fundamental rights.

It is worth noting that the high court had, on 20 November, convicted Kanu on seven terrorism-related charges brought against him by the Federal Government.

Justice James Omotosho, who held that the prosecution had established the essential elements of the charges beyond reasonable doubt, sentenced him to life imprisonment.