They Go Nowhere! Court Nullifies Suit Seeking Igbo Exit From Nigeria

A suit instituted by a Coalition of Northern Groups seeking the exit of Igbos in the South-East out of Nigeria has been struck out by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

A coalition of northern groups had filed a case asking the court to compel the leadership of the National Assembly to facilitate the exit of Igbos of the South-East from Nigeria.

The suit was filed before an Abuja Federal High Court by a group of elders and politicians from the North led by Nastura Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’I, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman and Aminu Adam.

In the suit, they pleaded that this should be done before the conclusion of the ongoing amendment to the Nigerian Constitution.

The group argued that allowing the Igbos to secede would end violence and destruction in the South-East.

However, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo on Monday threw out the suit following the persistent absence of the plaintiffs in court to establish their case.

When the matter came up, none of the plaintiffs was in court and they were not represented by lawyers.

Justice Ekwo, after going through the case file, discovered that the Northern groups had not been coming to court since 2022 and had no legal representation.

In a brief ruling, the Judge held that from all indications, the plaintiffs had abandoned their own suit.

Justice Ekwo therefore struck out the case for want of diligent prosecution.