17/11/2025
PRESS BRIEFING
Rising Sun Foundation for Justice and Human Rights
Washington, D.C., USA
November 17, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NIGERIA'S SERIAL CONTEMPT OF COURT:
A Decade of Judicial Fraud in the Persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu – The World Must Hold the Nigerian State Accountable
Washington, D.C. – As Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja prepares to deliver what may become one of the most legally disastrous judgments in modern African history on November 20, 2025, the Rising Sun Foundation for Justice and Human Rights issues this urgent global alert: Nigeria has entered its tenth consecutive year of orchestrated judicial fraud and open constitutional sabotage in the politically motivated persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The Nigerian state, its security agencies, its prosecution teams, and even sections of its judiciary—including Justice James Omotosho—have become serial violators of the rule of law, repeatedly acting in open contempt of court orders locally, regionally, and internationally.
This is not a judicial process.
It is state-engineered persecution and a sustained attempt to criminalize dissent by destroying the very Constitution Nigeria claims to uphold.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a British based political activist and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been unlawfully detained for over four years following a criminal abduction from Kenya in June 2021—an act already condemned as illegal rendition by courts in both Nigeria and Kenya, and by multiple United Nations bodies.
Despite eight separate judicial victories spanning eight years, none of which have ever been appealed or set aside lawfully, Nigeria continues its prosecution campaign built on repealed laws, jurisdictionally void charges, fabricated evidence, and judicial panels handpicked to validate predetermined outcomes.
The Rising Sun Foundation calls on the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, African Union, UN Human Rights Council, and the International Criminal Court to intervene immediately. Nigeria’s actions now threaten not only Igbo rights but regional stability for all of West Africa.
Chronology of Unchallenged Judicial Victories Nigeria Continues to Violate
Below is the undisputed legal record—eight rulings in favor of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu between 2017 and 2025.
Nigeria complied with none.
Every ruling stands unappealed and remains binding.
Nigeria’s defiance is not accidental; it is systematic.
1. 2017 – Federal High Court, Abuja (Justice Binta Nyako)
The court ruled unequivocally that IPOB is NOT a terrorist or unlawful organization, demolishing the core of the current so-called terrorism trial. Several charges were struck out for lack of evidence. This judgment remains the law today, unchallenged and binding.
2. 2019 – African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The ACHPR found IPOB non-violent, non-terrorist, and protected under Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the African Charter. It condemned Nigeria’s actions as ethnic discrimination against Igbos. This ruling binds Nigeria under Article 1 of the Charter. Zero compliance.
3. 2022 – Federal High Court, (Umuahia Division)
The court declared Kanu’s abduction from Kenya a flagrant violation of domestic and international law, ordered his release, and nullified all charges arising from the illegal rendition. Nigeria never appealed. Nigeria never complied.
4. 2022 – Abia State High Court (Justice Benson Anya)
The court confirmed the 2017 “Operation Python Dance” military invasion of Kanu’s home as an attempted assassination carried out by Nigerian security forces. No appeal. No accountability.
5. October 13, 2022 – Court of Appeal, Abuja Division (Hanatu Sankey, Oladotun Adefope-Okojie, Ebiowei Tobi JJCA)
A historic ruling:
Kanu was discharged and acquitted of all charges, with the court holding that a retrial is constitutionally prohibited under Section 36(9) CFRN due to double jeopardy and the illegality of his rendition.
This acquittal is final in Nigerian law.
Yet Nigeria ignored it—and instead engineered judicial fraud through, Tsammani JCA, to undo it.
6. 2022 – UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Opinion No. 38/2022)
The UN found his detention arbitrary, discriminatory, and unlawful across all categories, and demanded immediate release and reparations. Nigeria remains in open violation.
7. 2023 – High Court of Enugu State (Justice Onuoha Onovo)
The court held that the Nigerian state’s treatment of IPOB members amounts to systemic ethnic discrimination against the Igbo people. The ruling stands; Nigeria ignores it.
8. 2025 – Kenyan High Court
The court ruled that Kenya never authorised Kanu’s transfer and that the operation was an illegal rendition violating Kenyan sovereignty. It ordered redress and accountability. Nigeria refuses to comply, worsening diplomatic fallout.
Together, these rulings prove one thing: Nigeria is running a politically scripted persecution, not a lawful prosecution.
The Tsammani Rogue Panel: A Judicial Conspiracy to Bury a Constitutional Acquittal
Nigeria’s most egregious judicial fraud occurred in October 2022. After the legitimate Court of Appeal acquittal on October 13, the Nigerian government convened a contrived, improperly constituted panel led by Justice Muhammad Lawal Tsammani.
In a move never seen in Nigerian, African, or Commonwealth jurisprudence, the rogue panel invoked Order 6 Rule 1 of the Court of Appeal Rules— a civil procedure provision — to “stay” a criminal acquittal.
This is illegal on its face.
You cannot use civil procedure to reverse a criminal acquittal.
Not in Nigeria.
Not in the UK.
Not in the U.S.
Not anywhere in the world.
Supreme Court judgments such as Abacha v. State and FRN v. Anache forbid such doctrinal cross-contamination.
The Tsammani ruling was not law.
It was judicial sabotage engineered by the executive branch and remains the cornerstone of the current constitutional crisis.
Ongoing Contempt: Prosecution Defies Acquittal; Justice Omotosho Defies Constitution and Supreme Court
Nigeria remains in contempt through:
Justice James Omotosho’s Open Constitutional Defiance
Despite the Supreme Court’s explicit order to amend Count 7 to align with an extant statute, Omotosho knowingly forced Kanu to plead to a void, repealed, and non-existent law—first Criminal Code Cap C45 (repealed), then Customs & Excise Management Act 2004 (also repealed).
He then refused to address:
the double criminality requirement under TPPA 2022
the constitutional bar on prosecution under a repealed law (CFRN §36(12))
the binding 2022 Court of Appeal acquittal
multiple domestic orders mandating Kanu’s release
the existence of a formal Arrest of Judgment motion
He has foreclosed addresses, shut down jurisdictional objections without hearing, and now plans to deliver judgment—an act that would be a void judicial nullity.
This is not judicial error.
It is deliberate collaboration with executive misconduct.
Call to Action: The World Must Act Now
Nigeria’s persistent disobedience has placed it in breach of:
its own Constitution,
the African Charter,
UN conventions,
international comity, and
basic principles of fair trial and anti-rendition law.
The Rising Sun Foundation demands:
Immediate enforcement of all existing acquittals and court orders.
International sanctions on Nigerian officials responsible for disobedience.
UN Human Rights Council inquiry into Nigeria’s systemic judicial abuses.
Global pressure to force compliance with domestic and international rulings.
Nigeria is on the brink of destroying its judiciary beyond repair.
A state that refuses to obey its own courts is a state collapsing from within.
We stand firmly with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Igbo nation, and every Nigerian demanding justice.
The world must stand with us.
For Interviews/Media Inquiries:
Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Augustine Odinmegwa, Director
Rising Sun Foundation, USA
End of Briefing
