ABUJA: The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday stepped down an application filed by the legal team of separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, seeking his transfer to the National Hospital for urgent medical care.
Justice Musa Liman, sitting as a vacation judge, said his jurisdiction ended with the expiration of the judges’ vacation period and therefore could not proceed with the matter.
Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is facing a seven-count charge bordering on terrorism. He has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021.
His younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, had sworn a 14-paragraph affidavit supporting the application, alleging that the IPOB leader suffers from a life-threatening heart condition that cannot be adequately managed at the DSS detention facility.
At Monday’s proceedings, Kanu’s counsel, Uchenna Njoku (SAN), told the court that the defence team was served with a 37-page counter affidavit from the Federal Government only that morning, leaving them insufficient time to study and respond.
Njoku requested an adjournment, noting that the vacation period would lapse the same day, thereby ending Justice Liman’s jurisdiction.
Lead counsel to the Federal Government, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), agreed with the defence but expressed regret that the matter was not heard earlier, stressing that the government’s legal team was ready to proceed at any time.
In his remarks, Justice Liman explained that while he had been reluctant to take up the case as a vacation judge, he chose to hear the matter due to its urgency and the life-and-death issues it raised.
However, he ruled that the application be returned to the court’s central registry for reassignment to Justice James Omotosho, who is handling the substantive terrorism case.
Liman added that he would attach a note to the case file, highlighting the urgency, to ensure Justice Omotosho could consider hearing it before the next adjourned date of October 10, when the court is expected to rule on Kanu’s no-case submission.
A lawyer present in court, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that if Liman’s note of urgency is considered, Justice Omotosho may schedule the medical application before the October sitting.
Kanu’s legal team insists his health condition is deteriorating in detention, while the government maintains that adequate medical care is available within DSS facilities.
Kanu, first arrested in 2015, was granted bail in 2017 but fled Nigeria after a military raid on his home in Abia State.
He was re-arrested in Kenya in 2021 and renditioned to Nigeria, where his long-running trial resumed.
The outcome of the October 10 ruling will be pivotal: if the no-case submission succeeds, Kanu could be discharged; if dismissed, his defense will be required to open immediately.
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