Aloy Ejimakor, lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu, has revealed that the IPOB leader has been relocated from the Department of State Services (DSS) detention facility in Abuja to a correctional centre in Sokoto following his conviction.
Recall that Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been secretly moved from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) to a correctional facility in Sokoto State.
Reacting to the development, Sowore said in a statement on his Facebook page that the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had quietly transferred the separatist leader hours after the court verdict. According to him, the decision was deliberate and intended to keep Kanu “isolated and vulnerable”.
“The Tinubu regime has secretly transferred Nnamdi Kanu to Sokoto Prison,” Sowore wrote, insisting that the transfer was part of a broader plan that had been in motion since Wednesday.
He alleged that government officials argued that taking Kanu to Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja would turn the facility into “a place of pilgrimage” because of the level of support he enjoys among Igbo residents and sympathisers.
In a post on X, Ejimakor wrote: “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 wellwishers.”
Kanu was found guilty of terrorism on Thursday by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja. He received a life sentence on four of the seven charges—counts one, four, five, and six—while counts three and seven earned him 20 and five years’ imprisonment respectively.
Delivering the judgment, Omotosho said the prosecution proved all allegations against the IPOB leader. He stated that Kanu offered no meaningful defence and “deliberately refused” to challenge the evidence before the court.
The judge condemned Kanu’s courtroom conduct, describing him as “a person who cannot be allowed to remain in the company of sane minds” and labeling him an “international terrorist.”
Omotosho ruled that Kanu’s behaviour made him unsuitable for Kuje prison. He said the convict must be placed in secure custody elsewhere in the country.
“I have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the convict has the tendency of violence. The tendency of violence has not left him,” he said.
“It is based on this that he must be kept in a facility that is suitable for his person, as putting him in Kuje Correctional Centre may not be appropriate.”
The judge also barred him from using electronic devices unless under the supervision of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). Additionally, seized equipment, including a transmitter allegedly smuggled into Nigeria, is to be forfeited to the federal government.
