The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has instituted a defamation lawsuit against the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.
Kanu, through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, filed the suit on Tuesday, accusing Adejobi of portraying him as a terrorist leader in a press statement issued on 25 January 2025.
In the said statement, Adejobi described IPOB as “a proscribed terrorist organisation” and stated that operatives of the Imo State Police Command had “neutralised six notorious kingpins belonging to the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and IPOB.”
Kanu averred that the statement was defamatory and had caused severe harm to his reputation.
The suit reads: “The defamatory statements read by his brother and circle of friends in Abuja and Nigeria at large were false and constitute a grave libel on his person, as the words in their natural and ordinary meaning portrayed him as a leader of a violent and terrorist group.”
He further claimed that the statement had been widely circulated, causing significant prejudice against him in his pending court cases.
“That the defendant’s libellous publications and utterances were circulated and read by millions of people around the world, particularly in Abuja and Nigeria, where the claimant has many friends, family, colleagues, admirers, mentees, well-wishers, and millions of followers and cases pending in court in which terrorism is at issue,” the suit added.
Kanu is seeking a court order directing Adejobi to retract the alleged defamatory publication through another press statement issued via the same media.
He also prayed for an order compelling Adejobi to write an unreserved letter of apology to be published prominently in The Sun, Daily Trust, and Vanguard newspapers.
Additionally, he is demanding an order of perpetual injunction restraining Adejobi from making further defamatory statements about him.
Kanu is also seeking ₦20 billion as general and exemplary damages, alongside the cost of the suit.
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