Tony Ezimakor, Abuja
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has dragged ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi and the Nigeria Police Force to court over alleged defamation.
ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi had allegedly caused the release of a statement claiming that the six alleged gunmen who were reportedly neutralised by the police in Imo State were members of the Indigenous Peopleof Biafra (IPOB).
In a writ of summons filed before an FCT High Court, through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor Esq, Kanu is asking the court to declare that the statement by the police linking him to the neutralised persons was defamatory of his person and the association.
He wants the court to award him the sum of N20 billion against the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, ACP for the statements credited to him.
He wants the court to order Adejobi to issue an unreserved letter of apology which shall be prominently and boldly published full-page in three national dailies, namely: the Sun, Daily Trust and Vanguard.
Kanu said the publication in the Vanguard of January 25, 2025 titled, “Imo police neutralise six IPOB/ESN terrorists, recover arms” portrayed him as the leader of a violent and terrorist group, and “as an association of violent criminals and terrorists who allegedly engage in terrorist acts in Imo State.”
Prince Emmanuel Kanu, in affidavit he deposed in support of suit , averred that his brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is the Director of Radio Biafra and the leader of IPOB, an organisation”registered as a non-violent self determination movement in the United Kingdom and has tens of millions of nonviolent members and followers worldwide, including millions in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja who altogether hold the claimant in high esteem.”
He said the statements by Adejobi and the activities credited to the deceased persons allegedly neutralised in a forest in Ihube, Okigwe, Imo State and the recovery of five AK-47 rifles, 552 rounds of live ammunition, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), several communication equipment, along with eight operational motorcycles, portrayed his brother as “an irresponsible and violent person that has no regards for the sanctity of human lives, and “a person who does not deserve justice in his cases pending in court, bordering on: Whether the IPOB is a terrorist group or not; and whether its members are terrorists or otherwise have engaged in terrorist acts.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.