Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has reportedly been transferred from the Department of State Services (DSS) detention facility in Abuja to the Sokoto State Correctional Centre in a secret overnight operation that caught his legal team and family completely off guard. The transfer allegedly occurred less than 24 hours after he was handed a life sentence by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
His lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed the development in a statement on Friday, November 21. According to him, Kanu’s lawyers had arrived at the DSS headquarters for a scheduled visit only to be informed that he had already been moved to what was described as “a secure and protected location” in Sokoto.
Ejimakor expressed deep concern over the relocation, writing:“Breaking: MAZI NNAMDI KANU has just been moved from DSS Abuja to the correctional facility (prison) in Sokoto; so far away from his lawyers, family, loved ones and well-wishers.”
He further questioned the rationale behind transferring Kanu to a facility so distant from his legal representatives, urging President Bola Tinubu to intervene. Drawing a historical parallel, he said:“While urging #Ndigbo to remain calm, I must question the wisdom of sending MNK to Sokoto prison. When Obafemi Awolowo was convicted in 1963, he was sent to the East, a neutral zone in his feud with the North. Pres. Tinubu can still halt this drift.”
As of the time of filing this report, security and correctional authorities have not issued an official confirmation or explanation regarding the transfer.
Kanu was convicted on Thursday, November 20, on seven terrorism-related charges. The court held that his broadcasts and directives to IPOB members incited violent attacks against security personnel and civilians. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, insisting that the evidence against him was overwhelming.
The separatist leader, who holds dual citizenship in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, was first arrested in 2015. He was granted bail in 2017 but fled the country shortly after, resurfacing two years later abroad before being rearrested in 2021.
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