Favour Michael Kanu, wife of the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPoB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has pleaded with Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja High Court, presiding over her husband’s trial, not to allow him die in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, where he is currently incarcerated.
Kanu’s wife who made the plea in an open letter to the presiding Judge on Thursday, faulted the medical report by the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, panel about the health condition of her husband.
The medical report presented by the prosecuting team at the court on Thursday, claimed that Kanu is not under any life-threatening health conditions, and could stand trial.
But Kanu’s wife, in the open letter, doubted the claims of the said report, and the manner it was presented.
She maintained that her husband is critically ill and needs urgent medical treatment outside the DSS clinic.
Kanu’s wife pleaded with the presiding Judge to allow her husband taken to any other medical facility within Abuja instead of allowing his condition to deteriorate at the same DSS clinic.
Expressing concerns over the unnecessary delays in the trial process, and the drama over the medical report, Kanu’s wife pleaded with Justice Omotosho not to betray the confidence she had on him.
The letter read in part:”When your Lordship took over Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case in March 2025, if my memory isn’t failing me, I believed strongly justice was at hand, having read about your impeccable reputation and astute judgement. However, with the recent happenings in court, I can only wonder if the attributes were exaggerated.
“My despondency stems from two main reasons:The current indecisiveness in every court sittings, which is a big contrast to the “accelerated hearing” you called for when you came onboard, stating how the matter had lingered far too long, putting in cognizance Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as a father, husband, brother and son. The dramatic turn of event is looking like a deliberate plan to keep stalling the case while the defendant languishes in the DSS dungeon”.
Kanu’s wife queried the method of presenting the NMA’s medical report, describing it as unethical.
“The deteriorating health condition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, caused primarily as a result of the torture and the inhumane treatment meted out on him when he was illegally brought back to Nigeria from Kenya. He was dumped in a dark, poorly ventilated cell in the DSS dungeon, with no access to treat his wounds or reach out to his loved ones.
“Your Lordship, you mandated the Nigerian Medical Association to conduct a medical assessment on the defendant because obviously, you were in doubt of the report from MNK’s seasoned doctors. The body never conducted nor submitted any medical report as reported. Rather, the DSS came up with a disjointed report which was reportedly presented in court today unethically.
“Your Lordship, you are not ignorant of the state of the medical system in Nigeria, reason virtually all politicians, office holders, the elites etc fly to other countries with their kids, for medical attention, including the President and Commander- in -Chief of the Armed Forces, because they lack faith in their own country’s medical system. I can also guess you do the same.
“Why then will your Lordship, deny Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the opportunity to be transferred to at least any ‘manageable’ hospital in Abuja rather than subjecting him to that poorly-equipped DSS health center, the same environment and same people that kept him in that condition?
“In one of the court sittings, you mentioned that MNK has to be alive and healthy to stand for his case. What changed, Your Lordship? Why is MNK’s failing health not being taken seriously? Does his life not matter to you? I make bold to say that Nnamdi Kanu has been gravely victimized for too long.”
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