Lawyers to the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, have raised the alarm on the safety and health condition of their client. Barristers Ifeanyi Ejiofor and Bar Aloy Ejimakor lead and special counsel respectively to Kanu, in a statement they made available online have expressed serious concern about Kanu’s safety in DSS custody.
“Our client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has instructed us to make the following information public.
“That despite a court order to the contrary, the condition of his detention at the DSS headquarters in Abuja continues to be harsh, degrading and inhumane.
“That he is solitarily confined to a very tiny cell twenty-three (23) hours of the day without access to sunlight and any social interactions whatsoever. He believes that this is aimed at inflicting extreme emotional and mental distress on him and breaking him psychologically.
“That any detainee who encounters and greets him during the single hour he is allowed outside his cell is promptly put in solitary confinement or transferred to maximum security as a punishment for exchanging mere greetings with him. Because of this, detainees have resorted to avoiding him and exchanging salutations with him, not to talk of any other form of social interactions.”
The lawyers disclosed further: “That since the Nigerian government extraordinarily renditioned him, he has not been allowed a change of clothing; and his Jewish prayer shawls and other religious materials brought to him by his counsel were rejected and returned.
“That the DSS has refused to replace his corrective glasses (lenses) which were smashed to smithereens by agents of the Nigerian government in the process of the violence they unleashed on him while abducting him in Kenya. This has led to a rapid deterioration of his sight.
“That he is restricted to meeting with his counsel in an atmosphere devoid of private discussions with his counsel; and he is oftentimes denied perusal of legal documentation his counsel brings to him to review.”
The statement added: “That he is not allowed to sleep with a pillow and this has led to him developing acid reflux which comes with acute burning sensations in his chest, chest pains and extreme difficulty in swallowing.