An Abuja Court has turned down the request to release Nnamdi Kanu, head of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a secessionist group in Nigeria, on bail.
Kanu is in a battle with the government of Nigeria that started in 2015 for his advocacy for the Igbos of Southeast Nigeria to secede from Nigeria and form an independent country called Biafra. The Nigerian government has had him locked up since 2021 after forcefully extraditing from Kenya.
The court, led by Justice Binta Nyako, looked into Kanu’s plea for bail and to be transferred from the custody of the secret police Department of State Services (DSS) to Kuje prison on Tuesday and declined both requests.
Kanu has sought for bail and transfer from DSS custody on health grounds. “They (the DSS) don’t have a medical facility. I have congestive heart failure. They are patching me up. My foot is swollen. I asked them to conduct surgery and they said they can’t. There is a conspiracy for me to die in detention,” he told the court.
Justice Nyako denied the plea and ordered an accelerated hearing of his case, since he has been incarcerated for so long.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
