Nigerian Govt owes Nnamdi Kanu N9.5bn damages from court judgments – IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said the Nigerian government owes its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a total of N9.5 billion damages from unapppealed court judgments.

Spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful, disclosed this in a clarification issued by the 4th administration of the IPOB Directorate of State, DOS, on Thursday.

The group highlighted what it described as the unassailable record of Kanu’s Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, noting that the clarification was a direct response to sustained misinformation by agents deployed by the Nigerian state to  prosecute the demarketing agenda against Kanu.

According to IPOB, Ejimakor has scored a series of landmark victories at both domestic and international levels in the pursuit of justice and Kanu’s freedom.

However, IPOB expressed regrets that the judgments secured in Kanu’s favour by Ejimakor were disobeyed by the Nigerian government.

“These judgments were brazenly disobeyed by the Nigerian state. All remain subsisting and unoverturned. The Federal Republic of Nigeria, the DSS, the Nigerian Army, and the South-East Governors’ Forum stand thoroughly defeated in multiple courts and cumulatively owe Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a whopping ₦9.5 billion in damages.

“None of these judgments was appealed by the Nigerian Government. No other lawyer who previously represented our leader and IPOB has ever attained this level of success,” IPOB said.

It listed the subsisting judgments won by Kanu and IPOB against the Nigerian Government with Ejimakor’s direct input as follows:

“January 2022 – Abia State High Court, Umuahia: The first victory declaring that MNK did not jump bail, arising from the September 2017 military invasion of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s ancestral home during Operation Python Dance (in which 28 persons were killed). The court awarded ₦1 billion in damages, ordered an apology, and recommended a political solution.

“October 2022 – Federal High Court, Umuahia Division: The first High Court declaration that MNK is a victim of unlawful Extraordinary Rendition. The court awarded ₦500 million damages, declared his detention illegal, ordered the Federal Government to restore him to pre-rendition status, apologize, and stop his prosecution. The extraordinary rendition argument that won the acquittal-equivalent discharge of 13 October 2022 was crafted by Barrister Aloy Ejimakor and no other – a fact our leader Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has confirmed on numerous occasions during visitation.

“October 2023 – State High Court, Enugu declared the 2017 proscription of IPOB as a terrorist group unconstitutional, ordered the South-East Governors’ Forum and Federal Government to pay ₦8 billion compensation to MNK/IPOB, and affirmed that self-determination is not a crime. This remains a landmark victory against the illegal proscription of our movement. These domestic triumphs alone establish an unpayable debt of ₦9.5 billion and a record of total legal defeat for the Nigerian state on these core issues.”

It added that Ejimakor successfully engaged the African Union Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (March 2018 Decision) which condemned the arrest/trial of Kanu and IPOB members, the proscription of IPOB, and Operation Python Dance as violations of the African Charter to which Nigeria is a signatory. The Commission directed late President Muhammadu Buhari to stop further arrests and prosecutions and to reverse the proscription.

IPOB added that Ejimakor also drove multiple United Nations interventions, I coughing the 2017–2018 Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Detentions ruling against Nigeria’s mistreatment of IPOB and Python Dance; the July 2022 United Nations Human Rights Council extraordinary rendition victory directing MNK’s release and compensation while declaring IPOB’s activity as self-determination and not crime.

It noted that Ejimakor was also involved in the October 2022 additional UN Special Rapporteur findings confirming arbitrary detention and rendition; and the May 2021 UN Special Rapporteur decision declaring the proscription of IPOB as discrimination against Igbo people and a violation of the UN Charter.

These interventions collectively made it impossible for the Nigerian government to convince foreign countries to tag IPOB a terrorist organisation, the group said.

IPOB also listed the June 2025 Kenya High Court declaration that Kanu’s abduction and forcible rendition were unlawful and unconstitutional.

“Barrister Aloy Ejimakor successfully litigated the Operation Python Dance invasion of our leader’s home where 28 people were killed. He successfully litigated the extraordinary rendition of Onyendu and secured declaratory judgments mandating restoration to pre-rendition status. He successfully engaged the African Union and United Nations, rendering Nigeria’s terrorist tag on IPOB a global non-starter. He won the landmark victory against the illegal proscription of IPOB,” the group stressed.

IPOB declared that no other attorney, either living or dead, has won more landmark cases in the service of Kanu and IPOB than Ejimakor, adding the coordinated and sponsored campaign of calumny against the group and those who serve it under Kanu has been defeated.

Nigerian Govt owes Nnamdi Kanu N9.5bn damages from court judgments – IPOB