Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Coalition of Northern Groups seeking the removal of Igbos from the Southeast region of Nigeria.
The legal action, initiated by a group of Northern elders and politicians led by Nastura Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’i, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman, and Aminu Adam, was rejected by the judge due to the consistent absence of the plaintiffs from court proceedings and their lack of legal representation.
Naija News reported that none of the plaintiffs attended court during the proceedings and were not represented by legal counsel. Upon a thorough review of the case file, Justice Ekwo found that the Northern groups had not participated in court sessions since 2022 and had no legal representation.
In a brief ruling, the judge concluded that it was evident the plaintiffs had abandoned their lawsuit, leading to the dismissal of the case due to the lack of diligent prosecution.
The Northern group had taken legal action urging the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives to facilitate the departure of the southeastern region from Nigeria. They emphasized the need for this action to be completed before finalizing amendments to Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
The plea for secession was presented in a lawsuit identified as FHC/ABJ/CS/538/2021, initiated by a coalition of Northern elders and politicians.
In their lawsuit, the group argued that allowing the Igbo people to secede from Nigeria would contribute to ending violence and devastation in the South-East, preventing a recurrence of the 1967-1970 Civil War that resulted in widespread loss of lives and property.
They also asserted that this decision would help quell the unrest caused by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu.
Among other requests, the group prayed for a declaration empowering the south-eastern region to decide on self-determination through a referendum.
They urged the court to order the relevant authorities to provide a framework for the self-determination of the south-eastern states before any further steps were taken to amend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to Daily Post, the plaintiffs emphasized that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria could be further amended after the question of self-determination had been resolved by Nigerians.
