Abuja — The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out an application filed by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, seeking his transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Centre to a facility closer to Abuja.
Delivering the ruling on Tuesday, Justice James Omotosho held that the application was incompetent and could not be entertained by the court.
Kanu, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on November 20, 2025, had argued in a motion he personally signed that his continued detention in Sokoto—over 700 kilometres from Abuja—would severely hamper his ability to pursue an appeal against his conviction.
In the ex parte motion marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, Kanu contended that although the court ordered him to serve his sentence in any correctional facility except Kuje Prison, his transfer to Sokoto would make it practically impossible for him to exercise his constitutional right of appeal.
According to him, the preparation of his notice and record of appeal required personal interaction with court registries in Abuja, adding that all individuals capable of assisting him, including relatives and legal consultants, were based in the Federal Capital Territory.
Kanu maintained that his detention in Sokoto constituted a violation of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and urged the court to order his transfer to a custodial facility within or near Abuja, such as Suleja or Keffi Correctional Centres.
The court had earlier declined to hear the application on December 4, 2025, after it was moved by Kanu’s younger brother, who is not a legal practitioner. Subsequently, a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACoN), Demdoo Asan, appeared for Kanu when the matter resumed on December 8.
However, at the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Asan informed the court of his decision to withdraw from the case, citing irreconcilable differences with the applicant. He disclosed that Kanu’s relatives had failed to depose to an affidavit in support of the application, despite repeated attempts to reach them.
The lawyer also accused Kanu of attempting to dictate how the case should be conducted, a situation he said was incompatible with his professional obligations as an officer of the court.
Invoking Order 50 Rule 1 of the Federal High Court Rules, Asan formally withdrew his representation, a request the court granted.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho noted that although the court had initially ordered service of the processes in the interest of justice, the suit remained fundamentally defective.
“The matter was incompetent from the onset,” the judge ruled, before striking out the application.
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