Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the appeal of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, convicted of terrorism, ruling that the appeal lacked merit and had become academic following his November 20 conviction by a Federal High Court for terrorism offences.
Delivering the judgment, a three-member panel stated that Kanu’s claim that his fundamental rights to human dignity, right to quality health care, and religion were being violated by his continued detention at the Department of State Services (DSS) facility was no longer tenable given his conviction, life imprisonment sentence, and remand in prison custody.
In the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Ugo noted that the case had become academic because Kanu’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, confirmed during the proceedings that his client was in Sokoto prison. Consequently, the court could not order his transfer to Kuje prison, which Kanu had requested while in DSS custody.
Justice Ugo added that since Kanu had previously shown a preference for prison custody, the court could no longer grant his requests, as he was now serving his sentence in the prison of his choice.
The appeal challenged the July 3 ruling by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja (now retired), which had earlier dismissed Kanu’s fundamental rights enforcement suit for failure to substantiate his claims.