New Telegraph

Court dismisses Kanu’s fundamental rights suit against FG

Nnamdi Kanu )

Nnamdi Kanu )

We’ll appeal judgement, Kanu’s counsel

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday dismissed the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) against the Federal Government. The trial Judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo dismissed the suit over lack of merit and substance.Kanu had through his Counsel , Maxwell Opara slammed a fundamental rights enforcement suit marked: FHC/ ABJ/CS/1585/2021 against the Director-General of DSS. He also joined the Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF).

In the suit , Kanu alleged that his health was deteriorating in the DSS custody, while also alleging that the medical personnel assigned to attend to him by the DSS were unqualified, among others. But the DSS, through its counsel, Idowu Awo strongly opposed the position and asked the court to dismiss the application. He submitted that Kanu’s counsel had not shown how the doctors attending to his client were doing “quack” work.

He further argued that merely stating that the medical doctors his office assigned to attend to Kanu were quacks did not amount to conflict, adding that Opara had not shown any material evidence to prove that the listed medical practitioners were quacks. He prayed the court to discountenance the application. The AGF’s Counsel , Simon Enoch, also corroborated Awo’s submission, praying the court to reject Opara’s application. Delivering the judgment, Justice Taiwo held that Kanu had not provided sufficient evidence that his fundamental rights were infringed upon by the security outfit “as there is no proof of tor-ture before the court.”

On Kanu’s right to practice his religion, the judge held that while the applicant had the constitutional right to practice his religion in custody, he agreed with the position of the respondent (DSS) that a suspect in custody cannot be allowed to practice his religion in such a way that would disturb the peace of other suspects in custody. On the allegation that the IPOB leader was receiving inadequate treatments from DSS doctors whom he had referred to as quacks, Taiwo said that “the applicants fail to lead evidence by calling a medical practitioner to convince the court that based on the medical report, the treatment giving to Kanu is inadequate.”. The court consequently dismissed the suit for lacking in merit and substance. Meanwhile, counsel to Kanu said that the judgement will be appealed.

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