The Federal government has said that the sub-regional ECOWAS
community court sitting in Abuja lacked “the requisite jurisdiction” to hear
and determine a matter of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
Nnamdi Kanu. The government writes an objection No. ECW/CCJ/APP/06/16 said the
court shouldn’t hear a matter brought before it by Biafra leader. It has
advised the court to dismiss and/or strike out the action for want of
jurisdiction, “stemming from incompetency in initiating the application against
the defendants.”
READ ALSO: Kanu
drags Buhari to ECOWAS court The administration described the
move of plaintiff who proceeded to the ECOWAS court instead of waiting for
conclusion of his application before the Nigerian Domestic Court of Appeal on
his bail as “an abuse of court process or subjecting the Nigerian law to
ridicule.” Kanu was being charged under existing Nigerian domestic
laws and as such cannot correctly file the suit before the sub-regional court.
“The corporate existence of Nigeria as a united, harmonious, indivisible and
indissoluble sovereign nation is certainly greater than any citizen’s liberty
or right and it survives in pieces rather than in peace, individual’s liberty
or rights may not even exist,” it said. “It is trite law that a court cannot
assume jurisdiction over ancillary claims when it has no jurisdiction to
entertain the main claim, since an ancillary claim can only be properly
determined by that court. Thus, it is improper to approach a court which is
incompetent to determine only some of the issues in a case if there is a court
with jurisdiction to determine all the issues.” The government further
submitted that the court has no authority over the two defendants because they,
“are neither member-states or community institutions of ECOWAS and therefore,
not amenable to the jurisdiction of the community court of justice”.
READ ALSO: Biafra: DSS says there are plans to abduct
Nnamdi Kanu It advised the court to strike out their names as parties in the
matter, underlining that there is neither factual nor documentary proof to any
claim against them. Kanu, who is accused of treasonable felony, has dragged
President Buhari to ECOWAS for the violation of his fundamental rights, that of
his colleagues, as well as those of his supporters. The IPOB leader was
arrested in October 2015 by the Department of State Services after he had
arrived from UK to Lagos. He has since been granted bail,
but not released. Kanu’s detention caused
pro-Biafra rallies and protests all over Nigeria and abroad.
case.
case.
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