The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), challenging alleged violations of his fundamental rights while in detention.
A three-member panel of the appellate court on Friday ruled that the case lacked merit and had become academic following Kanu’s terrorism conviction.
The court determined that Kanu’s complaints regarding violations of his rights to human dignity, quality healthcare, and religious practice during his detention by the Department of State Services (DSS) were no longer valid after a Federal High Court sentenced him to life imprisonment on November 20.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Moses Ugo noted that the appeal lost its substance when Kanu’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, confirmed during proceedings that his client had been transferred to Sokoto prison.
Justice Ugo ruled that the court could no longer grant Kanu’s request for relocation to Kuje prison since he had already been moved to the facility he had requested.
The appeal sought to overturn a July 3 ruling by retired Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who had dismissed Kanu’s fundamental rights enforcement suit on the grounds that he failed to prove his case.
The respondents named in the appeal were the Director General of the DSS, the DSS, and the Attorney General of the Federation.
The dismissal follows Justice James Omotosho’s recent conviction of Kanu on all seven counts of terrorism charges, resulting in a life imprisonment sentence.
In his judgment, Justice Omotosho remarked that “the convict has not acted well throughout the proceedings,” noting that Kanu had caused unnecessary delays in the legal process.
Kanu, who was arrested and returned to Nigeria in 2021 after fleeing the country in 2017, has been at the center of a prolonged legal battle over his detention conditions and the terrorism charges brought against him by the federal government.
