The Ebonyi State High Court has discharged and acquitted 24 individuals linked to Biafran agitation, who had spent over four years in detention on charges their lawyers described as baseless and unconstitutional.
In a judgment delivered in Abakaliki on Thursday, Justice I.P. Chima ruled that the accused were not guilty of the offences levelled against them, citing breaches of their constitutional rights. He also invoked the legal principle of autrefois acquit, which prevents an individual from being tried again for an offence of which they have already been cleared.
“Justice was delayed but not denied. Today’s verdict is a bold statement that the judiciary remains the last hope of the common man,” said Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Ejiofor pointed out that the 24 men had been detained since May 2020 and had been discharged and acquitted by five different courts over the years, yet remained in custody until Thursday’s ruling.
The court also issued an order for their immediate release, which was carried out without delay by the Nigerian Correctional Service, according to Ejiofor.
“These innocent citizens walked out of the correctional facility in victory, breaking into songs of praise and thanksgiving to God,” he said.
He commended Justice Chima for what he described as judicial bravery and called on the Ebonyi State Government to initiate rehabilitation and compensation for the acquitted men.
“Today marks the end of a painful ordeal. The light of justice has pierced the dark clouds of oppression. Freedom is restored; a new chapter begins,” Ejiofor concluded.
The men were arrested in 2020 during a period of heightened unrest in South-East Nigeria tied to separatist movements.
