The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ruling that the matter has been overtaken by his recent conviction.
A three-man panel held on Friday that the appeal had no merit and had effectively become academic following Kanu’s conviction for terrorism-related offences. The ruling is separate from the fresh appeal his lawyers say they plan to file to challenge the conviction itself.
Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Abuja on 20 November, after a decade-long trial punctuated by a four-year period when he fled the country. He was rearrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria in June 2021, continuing his trial from the custody of the State Security Service (SSS).
In the dismissed appeal, Kanu had alleged that his fundamental rights—including dignity of person, access to quality healthcare, and freedom of religion—were violated during his detention in the SSS facility. He sought to overturn a 2022 judgment that dismissed his suit against the SSS Director-General and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Ugo said the court could no longer grant Kanu’s requests, noting that his conviction and transfer to a custodial centre rendered the matter academic. The court also observed that Kanu’s counsel confirmed he was now held at the Sokoto Correctional Centre, making it impossible to order his relocation to Kuje Correctional Centre as originally sought.
Justice Ugo added that, since Kanu had previously indicated a preference for prison custody over SSS detention, the court could not issue orders inconsistent with the current reality of his incarceration.
