Ogona Anita
The Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) were listed as respondents in the fundamental rights appeal initiated by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
On Friday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja struck out Kanu’s appeal, ruling that it no longer had practical value because he had already been convicted and handed a life sentence by the Federal High Court. The three-member panel stated that the issues raised in the appeal had become “academic.”
Kanu was convicted on November 20 on terrorism charges and is currently serving his sentence at the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Ugo noted that Kanu’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, acknowledged that his client was now in Sokoto Prison. Given this development, the court held that it could not grant the request for Kanu to be transferred to Kuje Prison from DSS custody.
Justice Ugo further observed that Kanu had earlier expressed a desire to be kept in a regular correctional facility instead of DSS detention, meaning his current placement already satisfies his stated preference.
Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal for lacking merit, closing another avenue through which Kanu sought to challenge what he has repeatedly described as violations of his fundamental rights.
This ruling comes barely a week after Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court convicted Kanu on a seven-count charge, stating that the prosecution had successfully proven its case.
Kanu was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
Before this conviction, Kanu had approached the Federal High Court to seek redress for alleged violations of his rights, including unlawful arrest, extraordinary rendition, torture, and prolonged detention without sufficient access to legal counsel.
