Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has filed a lawsuit against Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation, for publishing an alleged defamatory article.
Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s attorney, stated that the AGF allegedly slandered the IPOB leader when he claimed that the latter had jumped bail and requested N20 billion in damages.
Yesterday, Ejimakor posted copies of the lawsuit to his Twitter account. He said that Malami’s defamatory publication hurt Kanu’s pending cases.
“Last week, I filed a suit against AGF Malami to stop him from making any further defamatory publication that Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kalu jumped bail,” the attorney wrote in a tweet. This kind of publication is extremely damaging to MNK’s other pending cases in various courts. It must end!”
Following alleged defamatory and libelous claims against him, Kanu demanded compensation in the suit, which was filed on January 13.
“a declaration of this Honorable Court that, given the said Judgment of Abia State High Court, the Defendant’s published statements or utterances to the effect that Claimant jumped bail, as published in the said Vanguard newspaper publication, are libelous and defamatory,” the claimant (Kanu) in the lawsuit requested.
“An order of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to retract the aforementioned publication in the Vanguard newspaper through a second press release to the Vanguard newspaper;
“An order issued by this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to write and deliver an unreserved letter of apology to the Claimant. The letter of apology will be boldly and prominently published full-page in two national circulation Nigerian newspapers: The Sun and Guardian newspapers.
“A perpetual injunction preventing the Defendant from ever speaking the aforementioned defamatory and libelous words about or about the Claimant;”
“An order of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to pay the Claimant general and exemplary damages in the amount of N20,000,000,000.00”
On Kanu’s behalf, Ejimakor sent a Legal Notice to Malami in September 2022, informing him of his intention to sue him for his “defamatory and libelous statements that #MNK jumped bail.”