JUSTICE James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled a hearing for March 4, 2024, in a new N1 billion lawsuit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against the Federal Government and three individuals.
Others include the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Department of State Services (DSS), and its Director General, Yusuf Bichi.
Justice James Omotosho adjourned the hearing in the fundamental rights enforcement suit for yesterday due to the applicant’s lawyer’s unavailability.
At the time the matter was mentioned, no lawyer had indicated an appearance for the petitioner, although the respondents were represented by two lawyers: Enoch Simon (for the Federal Government and the AGF) and I. Awo for the DSS.
Simon informed the court that his clients had just received the hearing notice and not the suit’s originating processes.
The lawyer stated that he was in court out of respect for the law.
After listening to the counsel, Justice Omotosho delayed the hearing until March 4 and directed that a hearing notice be issued and served on the petitioner.
In the suit filed for Kanu by his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, the IPOB leader seeks a declaration that the respondents’ act of forcible seizure and photocopying of confidential legal documents pertaining to the preparation of his defence, which were brought to him at the respondents’ detention facility by his lawyers, amounted to a denial of his right to be defended by legal practitioners of his own choosing.
He also sought a declaration that the respondents’ act of refusing or preventing his counsel from taking notes on details of counsel’s professional discussions/consultations with him at DSS detention, with said discussions/consultations relating to the preparation of his defence, constituted a denial of his right to adequate facilities for the preparation of his defence by legal practitioners of his own choosing, among other things.
