Kanu’s Lawyer Serves AGF Malami Pre-Action Notice Over Libelous Statements Against Nnamdi Kanu

Yesterday, Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimako served on AGF Malami a pre-action Legal Notice (as required by law), notifying him of his intention to take legal action against him for his defamatory and libelous statements that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had jumped bail. The details are pasted below:

–

21st November, 2022

Abubakar Malami, SAN

Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF)

Federal Ministry of Justice Headquarters

Shehu Shagari Way Central District

Maitama, Abuja FCT

RE: PRE-ACTION NOTICE AND FORMAL DEMAND FOR SETTLEMENT OF THE CLAIM OF DEFAMATION/LIBEL OF THE CHARACTER OF MAZI NNAMDI KANU GROUNDED ON YOUR FALSE, DEFAMATORY AND LIBELOUS PUBLICATIONS THAT

MAZI NNAMDI KANU JUMPED BAIL

Dear Honorable Attorney-General:

We are Solicitors to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu (hereafter: the Claimant or our Client), on whose behalf and firm Instructions we write this Letter with reference to the above-captioned matter.

In addition to bearing the Claimant’s formal demand for settling this claim out of court, this Letter also constitutes the written Memorandum of Claimant’s potential claims against you and the options available to you for settling the claims out of court.

According to our Instruction, the details of this claim are as follows:

1. The Claimant last resided at Eze I. O Kanu Drive, Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia North LGA, Abia State in September 2017 from where he was driven into exile to Kenya by the malfeasance of your principals and privies, same malfeasance having been, in the course of time, held by a competent court to be a violation of Claimant’s fundamental rights. See Attachments 1 and 2, from which the following pertinent quotes are respectively reproduced for emphasis:

(a). From the Judgment (Attachment 1):

“The issue of the military invasion of Applicant’s residential abode and premises at Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Abia State on 10th September, 2017 by agents of 1st Respondent is so notorious and common knowledge that this Honourable Court cannot turn a blind eye to it. I am satisfied that Applicant has proved the violation of his fundamental rights to dignity of human person, personal liberty and attempted violation of his right to life by 1st Respondent and or its agents and none of the Respondents in this Suit has shown any real justification for such conduct. It is the view of this Honourable Court that the Agent of the First Respondent set out as pythons to terminate the life of the Applicant. In view of the foregoing the Applicant’s Relief 1 and 7 succeed and it is hereby granted as prayed. The Applicant deserves an apology as prayed.”

(b). From the Judgment Order (Attachment 2):

“Pursuant to the Judgment of this Honourable Court in this Suit, HIN/FR.14/2021, wherein the Court ordered as follows:

“1, That it is hereby declared and pronounced that the military invasion of the Applicant’s building and premises at Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Abia State on the 10th day of September, 2017 by the Respondents or their agents is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right to life, dignity of his person, his personal liberty and fair hearing as guaranteed under chapter iv of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and the African  Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

“2, That the First Respondent is hereby ordered to issue an official letter of apology in three (3) National Dailies to the Applicant.

“3, That the First Respondent is hereby ordered to pay the sum of One Billion Naira to the Applicant.

“4, That the First Respondent is urged to show commitment to a peaceful resolution to the matter.”

2. Despite the clear exoneration from jumping bail contained in the Judgment exhibited and quoted above, you have, after 19th January 2022 when this judgment was rendered, defamed and libeled our Client by your several utterances and publications (in national dailies) where you falsely stated that our Client jumped bail. One of such publications by you was made in Vanguard of 27th October, 2022 whereby you defamed our Client as follows:

“To release or not to release Nnamdi Kanu is a function of law and the rule of law for that matter. In arriving at a decision whether to release or not release, is one; you look at the rule of law, two; you look at the public and the national interest, three; you look at the security situation, four; you look at the international diplomacy.

“Let me talk first of the rule of law. This is someone that has been granted bail on account of charges that have been preferred against him at the court. Someone jumping bail to international community, a case of fugitive is established against the background of jumping the bail. “Two, arising from the national security, this is someone that is charged with treason, incitement and destruction of civil authority, murder and assassination of others on account of his incitement, that boils down to issues of national security and criminality.

“Three, on account of international diplomacy, this is someone that has against his person, used the international community or a foreign country to launch an attack against a nation, against his nation for that matter. “So all these naturally come into play to determine what to do. So if you have through judicial processes established multiple cases of treason, homicide, bail-jumping among others; the fact that you have indeed succeeded in one case as against multiple others that are pending, goes to establish the fact that that case cannot be the only basis and criterion for determining whether you are entitled to be released or not.” See Attachment 3.

3. In view of the said Judgment of the Abia State High Court, your above utterances were false, malicious and reckless and they were read and heard worldwide and portrayed our Client in the following light:

1. A person who obstructs the course of justice by jumping bail.
2. A deceitful and dodgy person who obtained bail by false pretenses, with the intention of jumping it.
3. An untrustworthy person, who is morally depraved and undeserving of the favorable discretions of the court and the goodwill of the general public.
4. An irresponsible person that has no regards for the sanctity of being granted bail.

4. To be sure, your said libelous utterances were circulated and read by millions of people around the world, particularly in Abia State and Nigeria where our Client has many friends, family, colleagues, admirers, mentees, well-wishers and millions of followers.

5. Your said libelous publications have seriously injured our Client’s character, credit, reputation and integrity. You have by your defamatory actions brought our Client to scandal, contempt, odium, public humiliation and embarrassment for which he is entitled to monetary damages, injunctive relief, apology, among others.

6. It is our considered position that you knew that your post-19th January 2022 statements contained in the said publication and others contemporaneous with it were false and yet you maliciously caused same to be circulated.

7. It is our further position that you were motivated by malice and wickedness with the intention to malign, intimidate and undermine our Client’s reputation and person while portraying yourself as innocent in the lethal military invasion that has been condemned by a competent court of law in a subsisting Judgment in which you were the losing party.

8. In view of the foregoing, our Client claims against you in the following particulars:

1. The sum of N20,000,000,000.00 (Twenty Billion Naira only) being general and exemplary damages.
2. An unreserved personal letter of apology, to be prominently and boldly published full-page in two Nigerian Newspapers of national circulation, namely: Guardian Newspaper and Sun Newspaper.
3. You shall write and deliver to your superior officer(s) and/or your employer(s) a Legal Opinion to the effect that our Client did not jump bail in view of the 19th January 2022 Judgment of the High Court of Abia State.

9. The foregoing demands are without prejudice to other options or terms for settlement that you may counter-propose in response to this Letter. We therefore request that, with a view to settling this claim out of court, you respond to this Letter by Legal Mail (to the email on this Letterhead) within three (3) days of the receipt of this Letter. In the event that you fail to do so, our Client shall immediately commence legal proceedings against you without any further notice.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in the amicable resolution of this claim.

Sincerely:

ADULBERT LEGAL SERVICES

_________________ Aloy Ejimakor, Esq.

Counsel to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

21st November, 2022

GENERAL STATUTORY LEGAL NOTICE

Issued By: ALOY EJIMAKOR, Esq on behalf of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

Issued on the authority of: Order 3, Rule 2(1)(f) of the High Court of Abia State (Practice and Procedure) Rules, 2021 and other pertinent Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, of the States and the Federal Capital Territory

To the attention of: Newspaper Proprietors of Nigeria, Publishers of Print & Electronic Media in Nigeria, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), All Media Stakeholders, The General Public.

Subject: ALL MEDIA OPERATORS (PRINT AND ELECTRONIC) AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN NIGERIA MUST CEASE AND DESIST FORTHWITH FROM ANY FURTHER PUBLICATIONS STATING OR PURPORTING THAT MAZI NNAMDI KANU JUMPED BAIL

Salutations to all to whom this may concern.

We are Solicitors to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu (hereafter: our Client), on whose behalf and firm Instructions we hereby issue this Statutory Legal Notice in the following particulars:

1. In April 2017, our Client was released on bail after nearly eighteen (18) months in pretrial detention. Consequently, our Client returned to his ancestral home in Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia North LGA, Abia State, and remained there, awaiting his next trial date set for October 20, 2017.

2. On or about 10th September 2017 to 14th September 2017, while our Client was resting at home with some family members and friends, the Nigerian Army launched military invasionat our Client’s said ancestral home in Umuahia.

3. In the course of the invasion, our Client (as a human being menaced by a mortal danger) resorted to self-help and self-preservation, whereby he successfully fled from the mortal danger to save his life.

4. In September 2021, based on said military invasionand its aftermaths, our Client levied a fundamental rights Suit (through the undersigned Counsel) against the Nigerian Army, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and others before the High Court of Abia State, in Suit No: HIN/FR.14/2021, wherein our Client was the Applicant and the Federal Republic of Nigeria was the First Respondent.

5. On 19th January, 2022, the High Court of Abia consequently rendered a Judgment in favour of our Client, whereby the court awarded One Billion Naira (N1,000,000,000) damages in favour of our Client and ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria quaNigerian Army to issue and publish a public apology to our Client.
6. In the Judgment, the Court stated as follows:

“The issue of the military invasion of Applicant’s residential abode and premises at Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Abia State on 10th September, 2017 by agents of 1st Respondent is so notorious and common knowledge that this Honourable Court cannot turn a blind eye to it. I am satisfied that Applicant has proved the violation of his fundamental rights to dignity of human person, personal liberty and attempted violation of his right to life by 1st Respondent and or its agents and none of the Respondents in this Suit has shown any real justification for such conduct. It is the view of this Honourable Court that the Agent of the First Respondent set out as pythons to terminate the life of the Applicant. In view of the foregoing the Applicant’s Relief 1 and 7 succeed and it is hereby granted as prayed. The Applicant deserves an apology as prayed.” Pray, how can someone who jumped bail deserve an apology?

7. In the consequent Judgment Order following above Judgment, the Court stated as follows:

“Pursuant to the Judgment of this Honourable Court in this Suit, HIN/FR.14/2021, wherein the Court ordered as follows:

“1, That it is hereby declared and pronounced that the military invasion of the Applicant’s building and premises at Isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Abia State on the 10th day of September, 2017 by the Respondents or their agents is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right to life, dignity of his person, his personal liberty and fair hearing as guaranteed under chapter iv of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and the African  Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

“2, That the First Respondent is hereby ordered to issue an official letter of apology in three

National Dailies to the Applicant.

“3, That the First Respondent is hereby ordered to pay the sum of One Billion Naira to the Applicant.

“4, That the First Respondent is urged to show commitment to a peaceful resolution to the matter.” Pray, how can someone who jumped bail be awarded One Billion Naira against the party that accused him of jumping bail?

8. Despite this Judgment and its clear and crystal exoneration of our Client from any notion that his exercise of his legal rightto flee from the menace of the military invasion constituted an act of jumping bail, there have been several publications by some (not all) electronic and print media that continue to state and purport that our Client’s fight of safety from the military invasion constituted an act of jumping bail. Anybody in doubt only needs to be guided by this pronouncement of the Court, to wit: “It is the view of this Honourable Court that the Agent of the First Respondent set out as pythons to terminate the life of the Applicant”.

9. It is worse that the purveyors of such malicious and defamatory publications knowingly ignored the undisputed fact (validated by the later Judgment below) that the menace of setting out as pythons to terminate the life of our Client did not abate with the September 2017 military invasion but it instead escalated and continued from thence until 19th June, 2021 when the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its agents extraordinarily renditioned our Client from Kenya to Nigeria.
10. It is this extraordinary renditionthat grounded a later Suit the undersigned Counsel brought against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its agents before the Federal High Court in March 2022, wherein we stated in part that: ‘after failing in their September 2017 mission when they “set out as pythons to terminate the life of” our Client (as was previously held by the High Court of Abia State) and being aware that our Client took refuge in Kenya, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its agents continued to menace our Client, whereby they hotly pursued our Client to Kenya and renditioned him to Nigeria’. On 26th October 2022, the Federal High Court Judge ruled in favour of our Client, stating as follows (in quote):

“I declare that the manner of arrest and detention of the Applicant in Kenya, his continued detention in Abuja, his subjection to physical and mental trauma by the Respondents, the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to the Applicant amounts to a brazen violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to dignity of his person and threat to life under Section 34 (1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)”.

11. Thus, it is fundamentally false, malicious and an oxymoron to utter and purport publications to the effect that our Client jumped bailwithin a set of facts and circumstances in which the Federal High Court has held that our Client’s “continued detention in Abuja” is unconstitutional and illegal and that the conduct of the State towards him amounted threat to his life. On the contrary, our Client is supposed to be released unconditionally, his “continued detention in Abuja” having been held by a competent court to be unconstitutional. This is the narrative the media, as the fourth estate of the realm, is expected to be publishing and disseminating.

12. As a matter of Nigerian and universal law, the detention of anybody re-arrested subsequent to or pursuant to jumping bail can never be held by any court to be unconstitutional or illegal. Instead, such detention will be blessed and validated by the court.

13. Therefore, under the combined ratio and kernel of these Judgments (and even of the Abia High Court Judgment standing alone and without more), any publications stating or purporting that our Client’s flight from the menace of the military invasion and its aftermaths inherent in the hot pursuit constituted an act of jumping bailis undeniably false, malicious and reckless and portray our Client in the following light:

• A person who obstructs the course of justice by jumping bail.

• A deceitful person who obtained bail by false pretenses, with the intention of jumping it.

• An untrustworthy person, morally depraved and undeserving of the discretions of the court.

• An irresponsible person that has no regards for the sanctity of being granted bail.

14. Thus, any such publications are unarguably libelous and defamatory, especially as they are circulated and read by millions of people around the world, particularly in Abia State and Nigeria where our Client has many friends, family, colleagues, admirers, mentees, well-wishers and millions of followers.

15. Further, the said libelous and defamatory publications have seriously injured our Client’s character, credit, reputation and integrity and brought our Client to scandal, contempt, odium, public humiliation and embarrassment; and they have altogether become highly prejudicial to our Client’s legal interests in cases that are pending in various courts in Nigeria and abroad.

16. It is our considered position that the operators and members of Nigerian media know or ought to know that any post-19th January 2022publication stating or purporting that our Client jumped bail is, as a matter of law, false and thus libelous, defamatory and manifestly injurious to the legal interests of our Client for which our Client retains the option to pursue quantum recompense in accordance with law.

17. To be sure, if in point of fact and law, our Client’s flight from the military invasion legally constituted an act of jumping bail, the High Court of Abia State would not have ruled in his favour and he would not have won his related and subsequent cases at the Federal High Court (Umuahia), the United Nations and the Court of Appeal.

18. In view of the foregoing, our Client hereby respectfully demands (and states) as follows:

1. That media operators, members of the media and all and sundry must henceforthcease and desist from uttering or otherwise causing any further publications stating or purporting that our Client jumped bail.

1. Without prejudice to the right of the media to inform, our Client will not hesitate to take vigorous legal actions (civil and criminal) against any person(s) and entity uttering or otherwise causing any such defamatory publications. And he shall do so without any further legal notice.

19. This Legal Notice is issued in remand is deemed served and received once it is published in any form, whether in whole or in part, in any mass medium (electronic or print) in wide circulation in Nigeria; or sent by electronic or surface mail to any of their legal addresses or their assigns or privies.

20. For avoidance of any doubt, this Legal Notice is without prejudice to our Client’s vested rights; and if the occasion arises, the Notice shall be deemed the statutory Pre-Action Noticerequired under any pertinent Federal or State law, more particularly under Order 3, Rule 2(1)(f) of the High Court of Abia State (Practice and Procedure) Rules, 2021.

21. In the interim, while we most sincerely thank all media operators and the general public for their prompt cooperation in the regards and demands of this Legal Notice, we wish to also assure all and sundry of our highest regards for the pivotal constitutional role the media plays in our society.

Signed:

ADULBERT LEGAL SERVICES

_________________

Aloy Ejimakor, Esq.

Special Counsel to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

NB: it is hereby affirmed that this Notice was served by a full-page paid Advertorial in a national daily and by electronic and surface mail