By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA– The Federal Government, on Friday, gave reasons why it opposed request for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to be transferred to the National Hospital in Abuja for medical attention.
The government, through its team of lawyers led by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, faulted a medical report that was issued by private physicians/consultants that Kanu engaged to assess the condition of his health.
Kanu’s medical team, led by Dr. Martin Aghaji, a retired Professor of medicine, had in the report, recommended the immediate transfer of the defendant to either the National hospital or a foreign medical facility for proper treatment.
Prof. Aghaji, who retired from the University of Nigeria, Nsuka, Enugu state, based his recommendations on the deteriorating health condition of the defendant.
However, opposing the request on Friday, the federal government told the Federal High Court in Abuja that a team of medical experts at the Department of State Services, DSS, led by Dr. Mohammed Nasir, had assessed Kanu’s health and assured that he could be properly treated at the security agency’s medical facility without recourse to the national hospital.
Awomolo, SAN, further told the court that the umbrella body of medical doctors in the country, the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, has equally constituted a seven-man panel to look into the discrepancy between the report by Kanu’s private physician and that of the medical team at the DSS.
He told the court that a group of powerful medical practitioners across the country had also visited Kanu at the DSS detention facility to ascertain his health status.
The federal government insisted that the report that was issued by Kanu’s private physician was not only exaggerated but equally suspicious as it also contained a recommendation for the defendant to be taken to a hospital in America.
The prosecution counsel told the court that NMA’s independent report on Kanu’s health condition was being awaited.
Besides, the government argued that no single medical personnel from the DSS was involved when Kanu was assessed by his private physicians/consultants.
It alleged that Prof. Aghaji unilaterally changed medication for Kanu, in utter disregard for the manner the defendant has been treated for the past four years.
It contended that the exclusion of the medical officers who have been managing the defendant’s health for years punctured the credibility of the report and recommendations.
FG further contended that moving Kanu to the national hospital would create chaos and inconvenience for thousands of patients receiving treatment at the hospital.
Awomolo, SAN, added that FG was deeply concerned about Kanu’s safety and security, hence the reason it opposed the application.
He, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the request, insisting that the private report was done in bad faith.
On his part, Kanu’s lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, said his team would not oppose NMA’s intervention if it was ordered by the Federal High Court.
Ikpeazu, SAN, told the court that the private physicians were unequivocal in their recommendation that Kanu needed urgent medical attention that could not be handled at the medical facility of the DSS.
He assured the court that Kanu would not escape, adding that his transfer to the national hospital would not pose any security challenge as the facility is equally owned by the government.
Ikpeazu, SAN, said it was in the interest of justice for the court to grant the request so that the defendant would be alive to defend the charge against him.
After he had listened to both sides, Justice James Omotosho said he would deliver a ruling on the matter today.
Kanu had in the motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2025, bemoaned that his health took a worrisome decline, a situation he said necessitated the invitation of doctors who carried out a thorough examination on him.
“The examination revealed issues to his health, including organs such as his pancreas and liver as well as an emerging lump underneath his armpit and dangerously low levels of potassium.
“The doctors have recommended that he be moved to the National Hospital as an interim measure to afford him medical attention and forestall further decline.
“The applicant’s health is seriously deteriorating, considering the nature of his confinement, thereby making more pressing the need to bring this application and have same heard by a vacation judge,” he added.
Though the case was initially adjourned to October 10, the court brought the date forward following an affidavit of urgency that was filed by the defendant.
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