The Department of State Services (DSS) has transferred Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Sokoto following his conviction and sentencing for terrorism by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The transfer, carried out on Friday, comes less than 24 hours after James Omotosho (Justice) delivered judgement in the long-running terrorism case against Kanu.
Read also: Terrorism: Kanu sentenced to life imprisonment a decade after arrest
The judge had directed the DSS to move the IPOB leader to any correctional facility in the country except Kuje Prison in Abuja, where Kanu had previously been held.
Omotosho on Thursday found Kanu guilty on a seven-count charge of terrorism and subsequently sentenced him to life imprisonment.
In his ruling, the judge upheld the DSS’s allegations that Kanu used acts of terrorism in pursuit of IPOB’s secessionist agenda, which sought to carve out the South-East, South-South, and parts of Benue and Kogi states from Nigeria.
A source within the DSS confirmed the relocation, saying it was in compliance with the court order.
Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s former lawyer and consultant, also confirmed the movement in a post on his X account, raising concern about the choice of Sokoto as the detention location.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has just been moved from DSS Abuja to the correctional facility in Sokoto; so far away from his lawyers, family, loved ones and well-wishers,” Ejimakor wrote.
He questioned the rationale behind the transfer to a facility far from Kanu’s legal team and support system, urging calm among the Igbo community.
“While urging Ndigbo to remain calm, I must question the wisdom of sending MNK to Sokoto prison,” he said.
Ejimakor referenced historical precedent, noting that when Obafemi Awolowo was convicted in 1963, he was sent to a region considered neutral in the political tensions of the time.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
Kanu’s legal troubles date back to 2015, when he was first arrested and charged with treasonable felony, terrorism, and related offences linked to his leadership of IPOB.
After being released on bail, he fled the country and was later arrested in Kenya before being extradited to Nigeria in 2021.
