THE Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja has directed the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to set up a team of experts within eight days to evaluate the health condition of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The judge, James Omotosho, in a ruling on Friday, September 26, ordered the NMA president to ensure that a panel of eight to ten medical professionals, including a cardiologist, a neurologist and the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, assess Kanu’s condition and report back to the court.
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The panel is also mandated to examine the medical facilities available at the State Security Services (SSS) hospital where Kanu is being treated, to determine whether the facility is equipped to manage his ailments. The court further granted the committee liberty to make use of any hospital in the country during the process.
The order followed conflicting medical reports from Kanu’s private doctors and the SSS medical team.
The SSS counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, informed the court that a team of experts had already visited Kanu in custody and insisted that the SSS hospital has the capacity to manage his condition.
He also alleged that Kanu’s private consultant, a retired professor of Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Martin Aghaji, unilaterally altered Kanu’s medication and exaggerated his condition by recommending treatment abroad.
Awomolo argued that transferring Kanu to the National Hospital would disrupt his medical services and pose a security risk.
He, however, maintained that the Federal Government remained committed to his safety and was willing to give him access to external medical experts within SSS facilities.
Kanu’s lead counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, countered Awomolo. He said the secret service lacked the capacity to manage his client’s health, stressing that the application for his transfer was based on Aghaji’s findings.
He added that Kanu must remain alive to defend himself against terrorism charges and said the defence team had no objection to the NMA’s intervention once it was court-ordered.
In a separate ruling, Omotosho dismissed Kanu’s no-case submission, holding that the Federal Government had established a prima facie case against him. He ordered the IPOB leader to open his defence on the terrorism charges.
Kanu faces a seven-count charge bordering on terrorism, treason, incitement through radio broadcasts, and defamation of Nigerian authorities.
In March, his legal team confirmed that his case had been reassigned to a new judge by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho.
His lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed that the reassignment followed a petition to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, after another judge, Binta Nyako, who previously presided over the case, recused herself. Nyako had earlier stepped down in September 2024 following Kanu’s loss of confidence in her impartiality, a decision that left the case stalled for months.