Kanu, who filed the suit on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, through his legal team led by his Special Counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, demanded N20 billion in damages.
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has filed a libel suit before the FCT High Court in Abuja against the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, for accusing IPOB of killings in Imo state and other parts of the South-East region of Nigeria.
Kanu, who filed the suit on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, through his legal team led by his Special Counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, demanded N20 billion in damages.
Kanu also warned that any security agency or individual directly or indirectly peddling propaganda against IPOB will be sued to compel such an entity or individual to come to court and present their evidence.
“For avoidance of doubt, a competent high court had held in October 2022 that the Federal Government breached the Constitution in labeling IPOB a terrorist group and that the group was discriminatorily targeted because its membership is populated by the Igbo.
“Thus, to keep tagging every criminal encountered in Southeast as IPOB exhibits a false narrative that defames not only Nnamdi Kanu but the entire Igbo,” Ejimakor stated.
In the suit document obtained by SaharaReporters, the detained IPOB leader accused the Force PRO of defaming him and IPOB by calling him and IPOB a terrorist and a terrorist group in a media publication by Vanguard Newspaper on January 25, 2025, titled, "Imo: Police neutralise six IPOB/ESN terrorists, recover arms: Operatives of the Imo Police Command's tactical unit have neutralised three notorious kingpins of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), an armed wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).”
Kanu further said, “The Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made the disclosure in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday in Owerri.
“Adejobi said following credible intelligence, the police operatives located and launched a coordinated operation on the terrorists' hideout in a forest within Ihube in Okigwe Local Government Area of the state on January 24.
“The Force PRO said five AK-47 rifles, 552 rounds of live ammunition, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), several communication equipment, along with eight operational motorcycles used by the group, were recovered from the scene.
“According to him, prior investigations had revealed the involvement of the group in several high-profile crimes, including the attack on the Owerri Correctional Centre on April 5, 2021.
“Adejobi further hinted that the neutralised terrorists' were involved in the killing of five policemen in Umunna, Okigwe, on December 12, 2022, and the burning of Arondizuogu Police Station on February 8, 2022.
“He conveyed the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun's commendation to the gallantry and exceptional bravery of the operatives.
“The Force PRO urged members of the public to remain vigilant and work collaboratively with the Nigeria Police Force to promote peace and ensure a safer environment for all citizens.”
Kanu said the statements are false and constitute a grave libel on his person, as the words in their natural and ordinary meaning portray him as a leader of a violent and terrorist group.
He said, “The said words in their natural and ordinary meaning were meant and were understood to mean that the Claimant is in fact a leader of a terrorist movement that is to be vicariously blamed for alleged acts of terrorism in Imo State.
“That the words were meant to call into question the Claimant's honesty, personal integrity and reputation.
“That the Claimant states that these defamatory and libelous statements go far beyond fair comment and are malicious and are designed specifically to impugn his person and character and they were made in bad faith.”
Kanu, therefore, prayed the court for a declaration that Adejobi’s published statements or utterances are libelous and defamatory.
He also sought an order of “this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to retract the said publications through other publications through the same media by way of issuance of another press statement.
“An Order of this Honorable Court directing the Defendant to write and deliver to the Claimant, an unreserved letter of apology. The letter of apology shall be prominently and boldly published full-page in three (3) national dailies, namely: then SUN, Daily Trust and Vanguard.
“An Order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant from further and forever uttering the said defamatory and libelous words about or concerning the Claimant.
“An Order of this Honorable Court directing the Defendant to pay to the Claimant the sum of N20,000,000,000 being general and exemplary damages.
“An Order of this Honorable Court directing the Defendant to pay the cost of this Suit.”