IFEANYI Ejiofor, legal counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, has accused the State Security Service (SSS) of violating courts orders regarding his client’s comfort while in detention.
He made this known in a statement released on Tuesday, saying that the security agency had treated court orders with disdain.
“We were informed by our client –Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu – that none of the pronouncements made by the court on the 2nd of December 2021 has been obeyed by the lawless DSS. They have unrepentantly continued to treat the orders of the court with greatest disdain,” he said
He also noted that officials of the agency were maltreating the IPOB leader for complaining about the harsh conditions under which he was being kept while in detention.
“Our client –Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu – further informed us that he had not eaten anything since Sunday, apparently being punished because we dared to complain to the court about the harsh condition under which he is being held in custody,” he said.
Describing the development as totally unacceptable and intolerable, Ejiofor said he had earlier predicted that the SSS would ignore the order.
He said the legal team of the IPOB would be presenting the issue before the court and urged the SSS to operate within the confines of the law to avoid being seen as a lawless organisation.
The ICIR contacted the SSS over the allegations, but its spokesperson Peter Afunanya declined to speak on the issue.
“I am not likely to speak on a matter that is sub judice,” he said.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered that Kanu be granted maximum possible comfort while in custody of the SSS.
The ICIR reported that the presiding judge Binta Nyako had ordered his access to a change of clothes, medical attention and freedom to practise his faith while in detention.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.