Dare Babalola
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed a rights violation case filed by Nnamdi Kanu against the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), striking out the suit alleging breaches of his rights.
This follows the conviction of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for terrorism offences by a Federal High Court in a judgment on November 20.
A three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed the appeal for lacking merit, ruling that Nnamdi Kanu’s claims of rights violations — including dignity, healthcare, and religion — were rendered moot by his conviction, life imprisonment sentence, and subsequent prison remand, negating the need for continued DSS detention.
In the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Ugo, held that the substance of the case has become academic because Kanu’s lawyer (Maxwell Opara) confirmed at the day’s proceeding, that his client was being held in Sokoto prison, subsequently, the court could no longer order him to be moved to Kuje prison to which he had sought to be relocated to, from the DSS custody.
According to Justice Ugo, the court was barred from approving Kanu’s requests as he had earlier opted for prison detention; now convicted and sentenced, he was getting exactly what he initially wanted.
The judgment was on Kanu’s appeal against the July 3 judgment by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja (now retired), which earlier dismissed his fundamental rights enforcement suit on the grounds that he failed to prove his case.
