The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the appeal filed by the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in which he accused the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) of violating his fundamental rights.
Kanu filed the suit days after he was convicted on all seven counts bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The appellate court struck out the case on the grounds that it lacked merit and had become academic following his conviction for terrorism offences by a Federal High Court on November 20.
In its judgment, a three-member panel held that Kanu’s claims, alleging violations of his rights to human dignity, quality healthcare, and religious freedom while in DSS custody, were no longer tenable in view of his conviction, sentencing, and subsequent remand in prison custody.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Moses Ugo ruled that the suit had become purely academic since Kanu’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, confirmed at the start of proceedings that he was now being held at the Sokoto prison.
The court noted that it could no longer grant his request to be transferred to Kuje prison, as he had earlier demanded while in DSS detention.
Justice Ugo added that since Kanu had previously expressed a preference for prison custody, and he is now legally confined there following his conviction, the court could not grant the reliefs he sought.
