An Abia State High Court presided on Wednesday awarded a N1bn damage in favour of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra against the Federal Government.
The ruling was made in the ruling on a case by Kanu seeking N5bn damages against the Federal Government over the alleged invasion of his father’s house on September 10, 2017 by the Nigerian military.
The presiding judge Justice Benson Anya, described the invasion of Kanu’s Afaraukwu residence as notorious and brazen.
The Judge also ordered the Federal Government to offer a public apology to Kanu, to be published in three national dailies.
The court order came on a day that Kanu also appeared in another court in faraway Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, where he is facing a 15-count charge bordering on terrorism.
Kanu has been standing trial for treason-related offences, since he was bundled back to Nigeria following his arrest in Kenya last July. On Monday, the government amended its charges against him, with eight fresh ones.
Kanu pleaded not guilty to the amended charges.
The Abia court declined to entertain the other reliefs sought by the IPOB leader, including his abduction from Kenya and detention by the Department of State Services, Nigeria’s secret police.
The judge also asked the government to seek a political resolution to the issues surrounding Kanu’s case.
