The Department of State Security (DSS) on Monday failed to produce leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Namdi Kanu, in court for his continued trial.
Consequently, the judge adjourned the case till October 21, 2021 for further hearing.
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court on Monday mandated the continued detention of Kanu with the Department of State Services, despite a request to transfer him to Kuje correctional centre.
During the resumed trial in Abuja, Kanu through his counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had argued in an application to the judge, that his client cannot get a fair trial if he remains in the custody of the DSS.
He also sought an order to grant him access to his medical doctor for the purpose of carrying out a comprehensive independent medical examination on him.
In her verdict, Justice Nyako ordered that the DSS should allow access to Kanu, although it won’t be a free-for-all.
Nyako said though the earlier remand order at the DSS facility still subsisted, she made an order for the lawyers to be given access to their client (Kanu).
“No, I am not transferring him to the correctional centre. I am keeping him there (DSS custody) and I am going to make an order that you should be given access,” she said.
The judge, however, noted that access to Kanu would be regimented.
“But it is not going to be all-comers affair; it will be regimented. You can’t get up at night and say you want to visit your client,” she stated.
With Kanu’s absence in court, the judge adjourned the trial to October 21.
However, she gave a caveat that the court will reconvene at an earlier date if the Chief Judge grants fiat for trial to proceed during the court vacation period.
