By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The legal team of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of unlawfully barring them from meeting with their client.
It was alleged that the DSS blocked Kanu’s legal representatives from visiting him at the detention facility, violating subsisting court orders and constitutional rights.
According to a statement signed and issued to newsmen on Friday by Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s lead counsel, the act is nothing short of a blatant breach of judicial directives.
“Today, in violation of court orders, the DSS blocked our legal team from meeting with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu at the detention facility,” Ejimakor stated, raising alarms about the implications of the development.
According to the statement, the DSS has allegedly canceled all future visitations to Kanu as an act of retaliation, following what it described as Kanu’s role in “chasing away” Justice Binta Nyako from his case.
Ejimakor explained that the DSS might be doing that to punish Kanu for “embarrassing the judge”, a move that has intensified his already prolonged solitary confinement.
“This means that the DSS, acting on behalf of the federal government, has unlawfully isolated Nnamdi Kanu from his lawyers, thus making his solitary confinement absolute,” Ejimakor lamented.
He said such an action not only violates Kanu’s right to legal representation but also casts doubt on when, or if, he will be allowed to meet his legal team again.
Recall that Kanu has been in custody since June 29, 2021, after he was was arrested in Kenya and renditioned to Nigeria.
