Alleged Rights Violation: Appeal Court Strikes Out Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Against DSS’ DG, AGF
THECONSCIENCE NG reports that the Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out the appeal filed by convicted IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, ruling that the application had become academic and lacked merit following his conviction for terrorism offences by the Federal High Court on November 20.
Delivering the judgment on Friday, a three-member panel of the appellate court held that Kanu’s claims alleging violations of his fundamental rights to human dignity, quality health care and freedom of religion due to his detention by the Department of State Services (DSS) were no longer relevant since he had already been convicted, sentenced to life imprisonment and transferred to a correctional facility.
In the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Moses Ugo stated that the substance of Kanu’s appeal had been overtaken by events. Kanu’s counsel, Maxwell Opara, confirmed at the start of proceedings that his client was now in a Sokoto correctional facility, making it impossible for the court to order his relocation to Kuje prison as originally requested.
Justice Ugo added that since Kanu had previously expressed preference for prison custody, the court could not grant his prayers after he had already been lawfully convicted and remanded to the very type of facility he requested.
The appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/813/2022—challenged the June 3, 2022 ruling of retired Federal High Court judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, who dismissed Kanu’s fundamental rights enforcement suit for lack of proof.
The respondents listed in the appeal were the Director General of the DSS, the DSS, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Justice Ugo noted that the key issue before the court was whether Kanu’s request to be removed from DSS custody was still tenable in light of the “recent public events” surrounding his trial.
He stated: “It is a matter of common knowledge, which this court is bound to take judicial notice of, that the criminal trial of the appellant has been concluded in the recently televised judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court on November 20, 2025, convicting him of terrorism-related offences and sentencing him to life imprisonment.
Even more significant is the fact, confirmed by his counsel in court this morning, that the appellant has since been moved from the DSS detention facility to a correctional centre in Sokoto State.”
Justice Ugo further recalled that Kanu had previously expressed preference for detention in a correctional facility. With his relocation to prison custody, the DSS was no longer in a position to violate the rights he alleged were being breached.
He concluded that Kanu’s appeal, along with the earlier ruling by Justice Taiwo Taiwo upholding his DSS detention, had become purely academic and no longer required judicial determination.
