The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out an appeal filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in which he challenged the alleged violation of his fundamental rights during his detention by the Department of State Services (DSS). A three-member panel of justices ruled on Thursday that the matter had become purely academic following Kanus conviction, his sentence to life imprisonment, and his subsequent transfer from DSS custody to a correctional centre. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Ugo said the court could no longer entertain the reliefs sought, including Kanus request to be moved from DSS custody to Kuje prison, because his counsel, Maxwell Opara, confirmed that he is now being held in a Sokoto correctional facility. Ugo said Kanu had previously expressed a preference for prison custody over detention by the DSS, and now that he has been convicted and remanded in the very type of facility he wanted, the court cannot order otherwise. The appeal challenged a ruling delivered in 2022 by retired Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who dismissed Kanus fundamental rights suit on the grounds that he failed to provide sufficient evidence. Kanu had alleged that the DSS violated his rights to human dignity, proper medical care, and freedom of religion. The DSS, its director-general, and the attorney-general of the federation were all listed as respondents in the appeal. Kanu was convicted on November 20 on a seven-count terrorism charge and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
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