The suit which was slammed on the Federal Government by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has been assigned to Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja and will be heard on June 21.

IPOB is seeking damages of up to N8.5billion against the Federal Government for their members who were “wickedly and brutally killed by combined forces of the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Security Service and the Nigerian Police”.

The group, through its lawyer, Okere Kingdom informed the court that over 153 members of the IPOB were murdered in a peaceful protest in Onitsha, Aba as well as other parts of the South East and South South of Nigeria late 2015 and early 2016.

Also, according to the group, over 50 of their members were injured in various degrees during a peaceful protest against the detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The IPOB wants “a declaration of the court condemning as crime against humanity, the unlawful, cruel, inhuman, brutal and wicked Killing (shooting) of unarmed, non-violent and peaceful protesters who are exercising their right to peaceful assembly, freedom of association and right to self-determination as guaranteed in section 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and Articles I, VI, XIX and XX of the African Charter on Human & Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, by the combined team of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies.”

The group wants N50 million each for the people injured during the protest and N100 million as damages to each family of the members that died in the struggle.

Adebayo Emuleomo