Timeframe: September 2017 – January 2022
Location: Umuahia High Court
Key Actors: Justice Benson Anya, Abia State Government,
Nigerian Army, Kanu family
Epigraph:
“The invasion was unlawful, unconstitutional, and amounted to an
attempt to terminate the applicant’s life.”
— Justice Benson Anya, 19 January 2022 [1].
The Camera Lens
Inside the Umuahia High Court, Justice Benson Anya read a ruling that rewrote the government’s bail-jumper narrative. He found that Operation Python Dance forced Kanu to flee for his life; he was not a fugitive, but a victim. The decision ordered Abuja to pay ₦1 billion in damages.
The court held that after the September 2017 military raid, Kanu “had no option than to escape death” [1]. It ordered the Federal Government to apologize and pay damages, acknowledging that the bail bond could not stand when the State itself violated court orders.
By declaring that Kanu never jumped bail, the judgment undercut the justification used in 2021 to seek international assistance. Premium Times noted that the ruling exposed contradictions between Nigeria’s claims abroad and findings at home [2]. Yet Abuja ignored the order, appealing but failing to obtain a stay, leaving the paradox unresolved.
Abia State’s ruling unmasks the core falsehood driving the rendition narrative. If the State’s own court concludes he fled to survive, international partners should question every request premised on “bail jumping.”