From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
A Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia, Abia state capital, has fixed May 12, for the adoption of a brief by both parties in the suit filed by detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) against the federal government and two others.
Justice Evelyne Anyadike gave the new date yesterday, in Umuahia, after counsel to the federal government, the President of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) requested a new date, to enable his team file a written address on territorial jurisdiction.
Nnamdi Kanu, through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, had sued the Federal Government, the president and the AGF in suit FHC/UM/CS/30/2022, where he is seeking the enforcement of his fundamental human rights which were allegedly violated by federal government, following his extradition from Kenya in 2021, among other prayers.
When the matter came up yesterday, Aloy Ejimakor stood in for Nnamdi Kanu, while Simon Enoch and Dauda N. represented the Federal Government and the two defendants.
Simon Enoch had told Justice Anyadike that the bureaucratic nature of the judicial process resulted in his legal team receiving the motion of service late, which could not allow them to prepare a a written address on the issue of territorial jurisdiction.
He pleaded with the court to give the respondents the time to prepare a written address and return for its adoption, which the Judge, after listening to him, granted.
Speaking to journalists after the matter, the lawyer to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Aloy Ejimakor, expressed his unhappiness over the failure of the respondents’ legal team to be ready with a written address, even after court records showed that they were served a notice of motion by bailiffs of the court on April 8, 2022.
Ejimakor further expressed dismay that since April 6, when the court directed the parties to file their written address, the respondents were yet to comply.
He said that the court has agreed to allow the respondents to come up with their address on territorial jurisdiction on May 12, 2022, but disclosed that the applicant, through his lawyer, may file for a default address on the matter on the said date of hearing.