Kanu plans to appeal after losing a N1 billion lawsuit against the FG.

The Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed on Monday the fundamental rights suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, against the federal government.

Justice James Omotosho dismissed the lawsuit for lack of merit.

However, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimako, told The Source, “We will appeal.”

The judge ruled that the IPOB leader failed to provide evidence to support his claim that the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Department of State Services, and its Director General, all named as defendants, violated his fundamental rights.

Kanu claimed in the suit, FHC/CS/1633/2023, that the DSS and its Director General violated his right to a fair hearing by allegedly preventing his lawyers from having unhindered interactions with him to prepare him for his treason trial.

He claimed that DSS officials eavesdropped on his conversations with his lawyers, which violated his right to a fair hearing.

He also claimed that DSS agents did not allow his lawyers to take notes during pre-trial meetings with him.

The defendant asked the court to enter “a declaration that the respondents’ act of forcible seizure and photocopying of confidential legal documents pertaining to facilitating the preparation of his defence which were brought to him at the respondents’ detention facility by his lawyers, amounted to a denial of his rights to be defended by legal practitioners of his own choice.”

However, Justice Omotosho ruled on Monday that Kanu failed to provide credible evidence to back up his claims.

Kanu has been on trial since 2015, when he was arrested for his secessionist activities. He fled the country in 2017 after being granted bail, but was apprehended in Kenya and returned to Nigeria in 2021, where he has been detained by the DSS ever since.