U.S. State Dept. Rejects Request from Nigerian Government to Support Its Sovereign Immunity Defense in ATS and TVPA Case

Ten plaintiffs from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have filed a federal lawsuit against 16 Nigerian officials for their complicity in the alleged extrajudicial killings of hundreds of its members who protested in the wake of arrest and detention of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in 2016.

The lawsuit is grounded on the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victims Protection Act.   Both laws allow U.S. courts to assert long-arm jurisdiction beyond America’s borders.

The defendants have moved to dismiss the suit based on the act of state doctrine, lack of jurisdiction and sovereign immunity.  In opposition, the plaintiffs have noted that the U.S. State Department rejected a request from the Nigerian government to intervene in the action and to recognize the defendants’ claims of sovereign immunity.

The case — John Doe, et al v. Tukur Yusuf Buratai et al, No. 17-Civ-01033 (ESH) —  is pending before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.