Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has filed a ₦10 billion lawsuit against the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Aboki Danjuma, over alleged defamation.
In the suit filed at the Abuja High Court by his lawyer, Maxwell Opara, Kanu is also seeking ₦50 million as exemplary damages, alongside 10 percent post-judgment interest per annum until the judgment sum is fully paid.
The suit, marked CV3179/2025, stems from a July 25 press release in which the Imo CP allegedly linked killings in Ndi-Ejezie, Umualaoma, and Ndiakuwata Uno communities of Arondizuogu, Ideato LGA, to IPOB/ESN members.
Kanu is asking the court to declare the statement false, unsubstantiated, and defamatory. He is further seeking:
- An order of perpetual injunction restraining the CP and the Nigeria Police from issuing similar statements.
- A directive compelling the CP to publicly retract the statement and publish an apology in at least two national dailies and on national television.
Opara argued that the CP’s statement was made “without proper investigation, evidence or credible intelligence,” stressing that no arrest or prosecution followed the release.
He further noted that the pronouncement came while IPOB’s appeal against its proscription as a terrorist group was pending before the Supreme Court, as well as Kanu’s ongoing trial at the Federal High Court.
“The claimant avers that the false statement by the defendant was made without proper investigation, evidence or credible intelligence as no arrest or criminal prosecution has been initiated after the press release,” Opara said.
According to him, the CP’s comments caused “serious damage to Kanu’s reputation nationally and internationally,” and were “defamatory, false, actuated by malice, and intended to sway public opinion against him and IPOB.”
