Kanu Drags National Intelligence Agency Boss To Court Over Abuse Of Office

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has dragged the director-general of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, to court over his (Kanu’s) alleged extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria last year.

Kanu, in the suit filed on his behalf by his special counsel, Barr Aloy Ejimakor, wants the court to declare that Mr Abubakar abused his office by arresting him in Kenya on 19th June, 2021 without following the due process of the law.

Among Kanu’s prayers as filed by Ejimakor are: “A declaration that the claimant’s arrest and his imprisonment in Nairobi, Kenya, amounted to false arrest and false imprisonment.

“A declaration that the defendant acted in bad faith and/or abused his public office in falsely arresting and falsely imprisoning the claimant at the said location in Kenya.

“An order of the court directing the defendant to pay to the claimant the sum of N20,000,000,000.00 (twenty billion naira only) being general and exemplary damages.

“An order of the court directing the defendant to write and deliver to the claimant, an unreserved personal letter of apology. The letter of apology shall also be prominently and boldly published full-page in two Nigerian newspapers of national circulation, namely: Guardian Newspaper and the Sun.

“An order of the court directing the defendant to pay the cost of this suit.”

Ejimakor argued that, “By falsely arresting and imprisoning the claimant in Kenya, the defendant breached his statutory duty requiring him to arrest and/or imprison the claimant in Kenya only in accordance with law.”

Recall that Kanu’s arrest was condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which through its Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, rendered a binding Opinion directing the Federal Republic of Nigeria to release Kanu unconditionally and accord him the opportunity of seeking compensation/reparations.

According to Ejimakor, “Mr Kanu’s arrest without an arrest warrant and with no explanation as to the reasons for his arrest violated his rights under article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 9 of the Covenant and principles 2, 4, 10, and 36 (2) of the Body of Principles.”

Our correspodent reports that a Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia on 26th October, 2022 also ruled in favour of Kanu against the FG, and ordered his restitution before his arrest as well as compensation for violating his rights.

The current suit, dated Nov 23, 2022, is filed at the High Court of Abia State, Umuahia. THE WHISTLER gathered that of all the suits that emanated from the rendition of Nnamdi Kanu, this is the first against Ahmed Abubakar, either in his personal or official capacity.