Nnamdi Kanu: DSS Denies Manhandling IPOB Leader’s Lawyers
- The DSS says allegations made by Nnamdi Kanu's lawyers concerning maltreatment is false and should be disregarded
- For the second time, the legal counsel to the IPOB leader took to his social media pages to allege that they were mishandled
- Only Kanu's lawyers have been able to visit him in DSS detention since he was arrested and extradited to Nigeria
FCT, Abuja - The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied allegations that its operatives harassed and manhandled lawyers of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu during a visit to their client.
Kanu’s lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, made the allegation in a statement he posted on his social media pages on Tuesday, August 31.
Source: Getty Images
He had earlier alleged they were subjected to the same treatment during a previous visit to the IPOB leader.
Spokesman of the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, said in a terse message to The Nation newspaper,
Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!
“Not true, please.”
The Punch newspaper had quoted Ejiofor as saying:
“Lawyers were ‘practically stripped naked’ while searching for incriminating materials during a court-ordered visit.
“We, therefore, do not mince words in stating that it is no longer safe as it stands today for us who are visiting our client.”
IPOB in crisis?
Meanwhile, there is apprehension within the ranks of IPOB following the leadership vacuum created by the absence of its leader.
According to a recent newspaper report, Kanu’s continued detention by the DSS has caused a seeming leadership crisis in the organization.
Kanu was said to be fully in control and members, deputies and assistants took orders directly from him or his broadcasts on Radio Biafra, but with his detention, the direct-order link is said to be totally missing and members are now said to rely solely on messages passed through Ejiofor.
Some IPOB members are said to be okay with Ejiofor being the only way they can hear from their leader.
Making a case for Nnamdi Kanu
In a related development, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, on Sunday, August 22 called on the Igbo leaders not to turn their back on Kanu.
Senator Anyanwu made the appeal in Owerri, the Imo state capital while speaking to journalists on the arrest and detention of the IPOB leader.
The senator who represented Imo East senatorial district in the Senate between 2015 to 2019, said the Igbo leaders should learn from the Yorubas who stood against the arrest and planned extradition of one of their own, Sunday Igboho, from the Benin Republic to Nigeria.
Source: Legit.ng
