Umuahia - 11 October 2022
Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, at the weekend, disclosed that a British Court has made an order, granting Kanu permission to apply for judicial review of the UK government’s reluctance to intervene in his extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria, last year.
Ejimakor, in a statement, said it was Kanu’s younger brother, Kingsley, that initiated the case tagged CO/2543/2022 in the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division Administrative Court.
Respondent in the case are the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth And Development Affairs. He cited the notification of the judge’s decision on permission to apply for judicial review CPR 54.11, 54.12 in the British High Court, stating that Mrs Justice Ellenbogen ordered that “the permission to apply for judicial review is granted” sequel to the consideration of the documents lodged by the parties.
He said that it was also ordered that in granting Kanu the permission to apply for judicial review, the “application is to be listed for one day, at an in-person hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice and the parties are to provide a written time estimate within seven days of service, if they disagree with this direction.”
Ejimakor further stated that the claimant’s challenge borders on the refusal by the respondent to communicate to the claimant and his family, as to whether the claimant’s brother has been the subject of extraordinary rendition.
He stated that by the case management direction, the claimant among other conditions, must pay the relevant fee to continue the application for the judicial review within seven days of permission being granted as failure will result in the court sending the claimant a notice requiring payment within a set time frame (normally seven additional days).
“The respondent and any party who wishes to contest or support the claim must file and serve detailed grounds and any written evidence or documents not already filed in a paginated and indexed bundle (in both hard copy and electronic copy) within 35 days of permission being granted with the detailed grounds made as concise as possible and must not exceed 40 pages without the court’s permission.
“The respondent may rely on her summary grounds as the detailed grounds. In doing so, she should inform the court and the other parties in writing within the time set for filing the detailed grounds.
“Any application by the claimant to serve evidence in reply shall be filed and served within 21 days of the date on which the respondent serves evidence pursuant to paragraph 2, above.
Credit: Gordi Udeajah (TheGuardian)
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