DSS denies Nnamdi Kanu's health is failing saying he is better now than when first detained

NIGERIA'S Department of State Security (DSS) has denied claims that the health of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has deteriorated to a point whereby he needs to be transferred to the National Hospital in Abuja.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu has been campaigning for the recreation of the independent republic of Biafra which broke away from Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970 during the civil war. His campaign, which has led to the phenomenal growth of Ipob, has set him at odds with the Nigerian government who him arrested and put on trial for treason.

Currently being held by the DSS, Mr Kanu's treason case is ongoing and over the last week, his lawyers had asked that he be transferred to hospital from the DSS facility due to his failing health. However, in a 37-paragraph affidavit opposing the request, the DSS faults the claims, saying they were made in bad faith to send a false message to the public.

According to the DSS,  it has one of the best medical facilities in the country with capable and qualified personnel that can handle any  health issues. In this counter-affidavit deposed to by Dr Mohammed Nasir, a DSS medical officer, the agency claimed that Mr Kanu is enjoying maximum comfort in its custody, where he is safe, secure and enjoying meals of his choice.

Furthermore, the DSS claimed that at Mr Kanu’s request, several medical specialists from the National Hospital and the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital were brought to see him to cater for his medical needs. Their affidavit insists that the Ipob leader is in a stable and healthy condition and dismissed the claims of him suffering from any sickness.

According to the DSS, in July 2021, a consultant from Heartland Cardiovascular Consultants Dr Onye Achillihu, was engaged to treat Mr Kanu. While expressing shock at how Professor Martin Aghaji, a retired professor from the University of Nigeria, came to the conclusion that Mr Kanu's health was deteriorating without speaking its own medical officers, the DSS cast doubt on the good faith and credibility of his recent report and recommendations.

Professor Aghaji's report was cited as a basis for transferring Mr Kanu but according to the DSS, if anything, the Ipob leader is better off now that when he was first detained. It recalled that in 2021 when Mr Kanu was brought into its custody, he had hypertension, which he had suffered from for five years and he had low serum potassium levels and recurrent nose bleedings.

In addition, the DSS averred that Mr Kanu once jumped bail, stressing that it would take full militarisation to secure his safety and well-being if he was moved to the National Hospital, which would inconvenience other patients and their families. Yesterday, a federal high court sitting in Abuja declined to hear the motion for transfer, with the  presiding judge, Justice Musa Liman, saying his fiat to sit as a vacation judge had ended  and therefore he lacked the jurisdiction to entertain such a new matter for hearing.