Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the lawyer for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, says the IPOB leader’s health is deteriorating while the Department of State Services (DSS) continues to neglect his basic needs in solitary confinement. Ejiofor alleges that when Kanu requested beverages and soap, he was told that approval from the DSS Director of Operations was required, and that the items have still not been provided.
In a statement issued after visiting Kanu in DSS custody in Abuja, Ejiofor briefed the leader on the status of all pending legal actions on his behalf across Nigerian courts. He noted that the federal government promptly complied with the Supreme Court’s interim decision on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira policy, yet blatantly ignored court orders demanding Kanu’s release. “The government obeyed the Supreme Court on monetary policy but refused to follow judgments of its own courts—specifically the Appeal Court’s discharge of Onyendu and the Federal High Court Umuahia’s order for Kanu’s unconditional release—clearly showing that some are considered less entitled to justice in Nigerian society,” he said.
Ejiofor added that Kanu’s health shows no significant improvement. The detainee complained that the DSS ignored the medical opinion of its own doctor, who recommended urgent ear surgery to salvage his severely damaged left ear—a injury Ejiofor attributes to torture by abductors in Kenya. Kanu instructed his lawyer to make public that DSS officials would give him a piece of paper to list his needs, only to later claim they could not afford the items and falsely report that they had already been provided.
According to Ejiofor, over a month ago Kanu wrote down his requests for beverages and soap, was told that the Director of Operations’ approval was required, and has yet to receive the items. The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on 13 October 2022, freed and discharged Kanu, declaring his abduction from Kenya illegal and unlawful and quashing all terrorism charges. The appellate court held that the federal government breached both local and international law in forcibly rendering Kanu to Nigeria, rendering the terrorism charges incompetent and unlawful.
In response, Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami asserted that Kanu was only discharged, not acquitted. The federal government subsequently appealed the Court of Appeal’s judgment, seeking a stay of execution. The appellate court granted a stay, a decision the IPOB legal team has now appealed to the Supreme Court. As of this report, the proscribed IPOB leader remains detained.
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