Court threatens to jail DSS DG for blocking NNAMDI KANU from lawyers

Saturday, October 19, 2024 -A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a stern warning to Adeola Ajayi, Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), over his failure to comply with court-ordered visitations for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Kanu, who has been in DSS custody since his 2021 re-arrest and extradition from Kenya, faces a seven-count charge of treasonable felony. His legal team has consistently accused the DSS of restricting access to their client, despite the court's ruling that Kanu should be granted access to his lawyers on designated days.

On Friday, October 18, the court registrar issued a “Form 48 notice of consequences of disobedience to the order of court” to Ajayi, cautioning him that failure to comply with the visitation order could result in imprisonment.

“Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in this order — by allowing the applicant’s counsel to conduct the court-ordered visitations with the applicant on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays — you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison,” the notice reads.

The court had earlier ruled that up to five members of Kanu’s legal team should be allowed to visit him on each of the court-ordered visitation days. Despite this, the DSS has allegedly failed to honor the directive, prompting the court's warning.

Aloy Ejimakor, one of Kanu's lead counsels, also issued a statement on Friday, October 18, threatening to initiate contempt proceedings against the DSS Director-General if the disobedience continues. Ejimakor expressed frustration over Ajayi’s refusal to allow Kanu’s legal team to visit him for almost a month.

“This notice is necessitated by the repeated disobedience of the court-ordered visitation of Mazi Kanu by the newly appointed Director-General of the State Security Services (Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi), who has, for almost a month, not allowed Mazi Kanu’s lawyers to visit him,” Ejimakor said in his statement.

“To be clear, this notice is a quasi-criminal judicial process that forewarns any person disobeying a court order of the penal consequences of such misconduct. Therefore, if the Director-General of DSS persists on this ignoble path, he will leave us with no other option than to commence vigorous contempt proceedings against him,” Ejimakor concluded.