Court of Appeal dismisses Nnamdi Kanu's challenge to his arrest and arraignment by DSS

NIGERIA'S Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge filed by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) Nnamdi Kanu disputing the right of the Nigerian authorities to detain and try him for terrorism.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu, the leader of the separatist group Ipob, 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.

While the case was still pending, Mr Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds but skipped his bail after flouting the conditions given to him by the court and fled Nigeria. In a dramatic development, in June 2021, Mr Kanu was abducted in Kenya and flown to Nigeria, where he has since been arrayed in court in Abuja, with fresh charges added to the pending ones.

On Thursday November 20, the case finally closed with Justice Omotosho finding Mr Kanu guilty on all seven counts of terrorism filed against him by the Nigerian government. Delivering his judgment, the judge described Mr Kanu as a terrorist whose actions have led to bloodshed and destabilisation across the southeast geo-political zone.

Mr Kanu had, however, challenged the right of the authorities to try him but today, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the judgment of the federal high court. Delivering the verdict, Justice Boloukuromo Ugo, who announced the judgement of the three-man appellate panel, dismissed the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Mr Kanu against the Department of State Services (DSS).

In its judgement, the court held that Mr Kanu’s claims regarding his human dignity, right to quality healthcare and religious freedom being infringed upon by continued detention at the DSS facility could no longer stand, considering his conviction, life imprisonment sentence, and remand to correctional custody. Justice Boloukuromo further noted that Kanu’s counsel, Maxwell Opara, that his client was being held at the Sokoto prison.

Furthermore, the judge stated that the court could no longer order Mr Kanu's transfer to Kuje Prison. Justice Ugo concluded that, given Mr Kanu’s earlier preference for prison custody, the Court of Appeal could no longer grant his pleas since he had already been convicted and transferred to the correctional facility he had requested.