The Department of State Services has refused to obey court
orders granting Nnamdi Kanu maximum comfort in detention, change of clothing,
amongst others, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lead counsel for the embattled Indigenous
People of Biafra leader has said.
The lawyer, in a statement on Tuesday, kicked that the
detaining agency has “unrepentantly continued to treat the orders of the court
with greatest disdain”.
Recall that Justice Binta Nyako of a
Federal High Court in Abuja ordered on December 2, 2021 that the secessionist
leader should not be discriminated against in the custody of the secret police.
The presiding judge had also ordered that Kanu be given
maximum comfort possible in detention, be allowed a change of clothing, be
allowed free practice of his Jewish faith including access to his Jewish
religious materials, allowed to receive any visitor of his choice, and allowed
to mingle freely with other inmates in DSS custody.
Justice Nyako also adjourned the trial of Kanu till January
18, 2022, after granting a motion for an abridgement of time.
But Ejiofor said he visited Kanu in DSS custody on Monday,
saying that despite the orders made by the court on December 2, 2021, the DSS
flouted and ignored the court orders.
The statement was titled, ‘Update On Today’s Visit To Our
Indefatigable Client – Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu At The Headquarters Of The
Department Of State Services (DSS) Abuja’.
He wrote, “We were informed by our client – Onyendu Mazi
Nnamdi Kanu that none of the pronouncement made by the Court on the 2nd of
December 2021 has been obeyed by the lawless DSS. They have unrepentantly
continued to treat the Orders of the Court with greatest disdain.
“Our client – Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu further informed us
that he had not eaten anything since Sunday, apparently being punished because
we dared to complain to the court about the harsh condition under which he is
being held in custody. But, very, unfortunately, this should be the height of
their reckless affront to the orders of court.
“At the time Her Lordship made these far-reaching orders in
open court, I did not mince words in bringing to the attention of the court
that the operatives of the DSS will flout these orders, pursuant to which the
court specifically directed me to come back to her with these facts if her
order is flouted by the detaining authority.”
He said the legal team of the IPOB leader would be
approaching the court immediately with the development, which he described as
“totally unacceptable, grossly condemnable, and intolerable.”
Ejiofor insisted that Kanu has not been convicted for
committing any crime and he is still presumed innocent of every allegation
against him.
“The detaining authority (DSS) is an Agency clearly
established by instrumentality of the laws and should operate within the
confines of the same laws establishing them, and should not be seen as a
lawless entity, which unfortunately is what they represent in practice,” he
said.
Kanu, 54, was born on September 25, 1967, at Afaraukwu, Abia
State. He had been arrested in 2017 for demanding the secession of the
South-East zone from the Nigerian State.
However, he jumped bail in June 2018 before leaving for the
United Kingdom, though he said that he fled because his life was no longer safe
in Nigeria.
After about three years abroad, the Attorney General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), at a press briefing in Abuja on June 29,
2021, announced that the IPOB leader was re-arrested in a foreign country and
extradited to Nigeria.
His lawyers had said the IPOB leader was re-arrested in
Kenya and whisked to Nigeria.
Upon his re-arrest and extradition in June 2021, he was
re-arraigned before Justice Nyako for terrorism-related charges brought against
him by the AGF office. Kanu has since been remanded in the DSS custody in Abuja
and has since appeared in the same cloth he wore at the time of his arrest.
Meanwhile, the AGF has said that it is premature to pardon
Kanu, adding that the IPOB leader is still standing trial for terrorism-related
charges.
On November 19, 2021, some respected Igbo elders, led by
Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, visited
the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in Aso Rock and requested
the unconditional release of the detained secessionist leader.
Buhari had told them he would not want to interfere in the
running of the judiciary but said he would consider their demand though “a
heavy one.”
Malami had also on November 10, 2021, said a political
solution cannot be ruled out to resolve the crisis surrounding separatist
agitations in Nigeria but he recently made a U-turn and said the option is not
on the table yet.
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