The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned further proceedings in the terrorism trial against the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to October 16.
The adjournment followed the inability of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to conclude and submit its report on Kanu’s health status, as directed by the court.
Trial Justice James Omotosho had on September 26 ordered the NMA, the umbrella body of medical practitioners in Nigeria, to constitute a team of experts to assess the defendant’s health. The directive came after the court dismissed a no-case submission filed by Kanu, seeking to be discharged and acquitted of the seven-count charge filed against him by the federal government.
The court initially gave the NMA eight days to submit its assessment, which would help determine whether Kanu should be transferred to the National Hospital in Abuja for adequate medical attention. Justice Omotosho instructed that the medical team visit the Department of State Services (DSS) facility, where Kanu is in custody, to evaluate its capacity to meet his medical needs. The committee was to include eight to ten medical practitioners, including a cardiologist, a neurologist, and the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital.
When the case resumed on Wednesday, DSS counsel Suraj S’aad, SAN, informed the court that the NMA had contacted the security agency, indicating that the report was not ready. He requested a week’s adjournment to allow the committee to complete its assessment. The request was not opposed by Kanu’s legal team, led by Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, and the court deferred submission of the report to the next adjourned date.
Kanu, in a motion marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2025, highlighted a worrisome decline in his health, noting issues with his pancreas, liver, a developing lump under his armpit, and dangerously low potassium levels. He had requested transfer to the National Hospital to receive adequate care.
While Kanu’s lawyers relied on private medical examinations to support the request, the federal government maintained that the DSS medical facility is sufficiently equipped to attend to his health needs and challenged the validity of the private reports.
Earlier, the court dismissed Kanu’s no-case submission, finding that a prima facie case had been established by the prosecution. The Federal Government had presented the evidence of five witnesses, mainly DSS operatives. Justice Omotosho directed Kanu to open his defense.
Kanu was initially arrested on October 14, 2015, upon returning from the United Kingdom. He was granted bail on health grounds in April 2017 but fled abroad midway through the trial after soldiers invaded his home in Afara Ukwu Ibeku, Umuahia, resulting in the death of some followers. He was re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021, and extradited to Nigeria on June 27, 2021.
The court remanded him in DSS custody, where he remains. In April 2022, the court struck out eight of the original 15 counts, citing lack of substance. The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal ordered Kanu’s immediate release in October 2022, but the federal government appealed to the Supreme Court, which in December 2023 allowed the trial on the remaining seven counts to continue.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 16, pending the submission of the NMA report.