DSS challenges claims on Kanu’s health, rejects transfer bid

DSS challenges claims on Kanu’s health, rejects transfer bid

 

The Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday faulted claims that the health of detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is deteriorating.

 

It urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss Kanu’s application seeking his transfer from the agency’s custody to the National Hospital, Abuja.

 

In a 37-paragraph counter affidavit, the DSS maintained that Kanu is stable, well cared for, and attended to by competent specialists within its medical facility.

 

Dr. Mohammed Nasir, a DSS medical officer, deposed that the agency has some of the best health facilities in the country, stressing that Kanu enjoys maximum comfort, including meals of his choice, and regular medical attention.

 

The service disclosed that since 2021, specialists from the National Hospital and the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital have been invited at Kanu’s request to cater for his health. It added that his present condition does not warrant transfer, dismissing as exaggerated the claims of Prof. Martin Aghaji, who recommended referral to the National Hospital.

 

The DSS recalled that when Kanu was taken into custody in 2021, he had hypertension, hypertensive heart disease, low potassium levels, and recurrent nose bleeding. It noted that different specialists had handled his case, but accused Prof. Aghaji of altering his treatment pattern and raising “unjustifiable alarm.”

 

According to the agency, moving Kanu to the National Hospital would pose serious security risks, noting that he had once jumped bail, and that securing him in a public facility would disrupt services to other patients.

 

Kanu’s lawyers, led by Chief Kanu Godwin Agabi (SAN), had urged the court to order his transfer, citing a letter by Prof. Aghaji that the IPOB leader was battling organ-related complications, dangerously low potassium, and a lump under his armpit.

 

His younger brother, Emmanuel Kanu, also insisted that the transfer was urgent to forestall further health decline.

 

However, Justice Musa Liman of the Federal High Court in Abuja declined to hear the application, citing lack of jurisdiction as his vacation fiat had expired. The motion, filed under charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, is expected to be reassigned by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.