Relieve for Kanu, as court grants request for independent medical attention
February 2,2023
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, granted an application filed by the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to have access to an independent medical access.
The court, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, also gave an order of mandamus compelling the Department of State Service (DSS) to allow Kanu have unhindered access to medical care and doctors of his choice
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2341/2022 Kanu through his legal team led by Mike Ozekhome and Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had requested an independent medical examination to assess his health condition after complaining about the DSS denying him access to proper medical attention.
In the ex-parte application filed by Kanu, the Biafran agitator had also requested that the DSS provide his “admission records, medical and clinical notes, nursing notes, laboratory test results, pharmaceutical records, radiological scans, images, blood transfusion records, physiotherapy and rehabilitative treatment records, clinical findings, diagnosis and treatment prescribed records.”
The IPOB leader claimed that his health condition had worsened following his detention and torture, inhuman treatment, and degradation, including a mild cardiac arrest before his return to Nigeria
In a verifying affidavit, Kanu told the court that before his arrest and rendition, he visited a Specialist Cardiologist every week for medical examination and treatment, adding that his health condition had continued to deteriorate since being held in solitary confinement and exposed to daily mental and psychological torture.
While granting the application, Justice Nyako directed Kanu’s legal team to serve all the relevant processes on both the DSS and its Director General, who were cited as 1st and 2nd Respondents in the matter, before adjourning the matter till February 21
