The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, dismissed the fundamental rights suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, against the Federal Government.
The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, dismissed the suit for lack of merit.
However, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimako, told reporters, “We will appeal.”
The judge ruled that the IPOB commander failed to produce evidence to support his claim that the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Department of State Services, and its Director General, all named as defendants, violated his fundamental rights.
Kanu claimed in the suit, FHC/CS/1633/2023, that the DSS and its Director General breached his right to a fair hearing by allegedly prohibiting his counsel from having unrestricted interactions with him to prepare him for his treason trial.
He claimed that DSS officers eavesdropped on his communications with his counsel, which violated his right to a fair hearing. He further claimed that DSS agents did not allow his lawyers to take notes during pre-trial discussions with him.
He prayed the court to make “a declaration that the respondents’ act of forcible seizure and photocopying of confidential legal documents pertaining to facilitating the preparation of his defence, which were brought to him at the respondents’ detention facility by his lawyers, amounted to a denial of his rights to be defended by legal practitioners of his own choice.”
However, Justice Omotosho ruled on Monday that Kanu failed to produce substantial proof to back up his accusations. Kanu has been on trial since 2015, when he was detained for his separatist activities.
He escaped the country in 2017 after being given bail, but was apprehended in Kenya and returned to Nigeria in 2021, where he has been detained by the DSS ever since.
