Legal Team: Secret Police DSS Violated Court Orders by Blocking Access to Nnamdi Kanu

The legal team representing Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), raised concerns on Friday regarding their denied access to him by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja. According to the team, the DSS has violated court orders and provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by blocking their visit.

Led by Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s special lawyer, the team reported that despite arriving at the DSS facility around 2 PM on Friday, they were not permitted to meet with their client, Nnamdi Kanu. Ejimakor stated that after waiting for nearly three hours, they remained barred from seeing Kanu, raising suspicions about the reasons behind the denial.

“Our suspicion, which is credible, is that the DSS and the federal government are displeased with our client’s request for the judge handling the case to recuse herself,” Ejimakor said. He questioned the DSS’s actions, calling them unconstitutional and implying that they might be retaliatory.

The legal team believes that the government’s ongoing actions have complicated the legal process and led to Kanu losing confidence in the judge, Justice Binta Nyako. This loss of trust culminated in Kanu’s request, on September 24, for the judge to withdraw from the case.

Ejimakor further expressed concerns that the DSS may have cancelled all future visitations to Kanu, allegedly as a form of punishment for Kanu’s role in the judge’s recusal. “The DSS, acting on behalf of the federal government, has unlawfully isolated Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from his lawyers, effectively making his solitary confinement absolute,” he said, adding that it is uncertain when, or if, the legal team will be able to meet with Kanu again.