Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, was convicted of terrorism offenses by a Federal High Court in a ruling on November 20. The Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed his appeal on the grounds that it lacked merit and had become academic.
A three-member panel of the appellate court ruled on Friday that Kanu’s claim that his continued detention in the Department of State Services (DSS) facility violated his fundamental rights to human dignity, quality health care, and religion was no longer viable due to his conviction, life sentence, and remand in prison custody.
In the lead ruling, Justice Boloukuromo Moses Ugo stated that the case’s substance has become academic since Kanu’s attorney, Maxwell Opara, confirmed at the start of the proceedings on Friday that his client was being held in Sokoto prison. As a result, the court was no longer able to order Kanu to be transferred from the DSS custody to Kuje prison.
Justice Ugo further held that the court could no longer grant his requests because he had previously shown a preference for prison confinement and had been found guilty and transported to the prison where he had desired to be housed.
The ruling addressed Kanu’s appeal of the July 3 ruling by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who is since retired. The ruling had dismissed Kanu’s fundamental rights enforcement suit on the grounds that he had not proven his case.
The Director General of the DSS, DSS, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) were named as respondents in the appeal.
