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Court Orders DSS to Allow Legal Access to Nnamdi Kanu Amidst Ongoing Visitation Restrictions
Nnamdi Kanu has been restricted legal access by the Department of State Service, he has been charged for terrorism in the federal high court in Abuja.
Kanu, detained since June 2021 after being repatriated from Kenya, has seen his legal team repeatedly claim that the DSS is intentionally blocking their access to him. This issue led the court on October 17 to warn DSS Director-General Adeola Ajayi, threatening possible jail time if access denial continues. In response, the court ordered Ajayi to explain the ongoing restrictions, which reportedly stem from orders within the SSS hierarchy.
Earlier, Judge Binta Nyako directed on May 20 that Kanu be permitted visitors three times a week—Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—in a secure, clean room to meet with up to five lawyers for his defense preparation. Recently obtained court documents highlighted that these sessions were to provide ample space for Kanu’s legal team to take necessary notes.
Despite these directives, DSS officials argue that the court order only applies when active trial proceedings are underway, which they claim have been temporarily paused. They cited Kanu’s previous request for Justice Nyako’s recusal as a factor in delaying proceedings, though she has now resumed the case. The DSS, however, maintains that visitation is only warranted once trial proceedings officially resume.
Kanu’s lawyer, Nnaemeka Ejiofor, criticized the DSS’s interpretation as “childish,” emphasizing that the court order remains valid until explicitly overturned. He argued, “An order of the court does not ordinarily expire unless replaced by a subsequent court order.” Ejiofor added that the DSS has no legal basis to restrict access, stating, “Is it when the trial resumes that we begin to prepare Kanu for trial?”
TV anchor Rufai Oseni makes headlines as he speaks on fuel subsidy in Nigeria. He shared that Nigeria can have fuel subsidy without the long queues at filling stations.
“When we were still paying subsidies, there were no long queues. We were subsidising. So you can still have a subsidy regime going on, and there will be no long queues because production was close by. Dangote had it. That’s just it. That argument also falls flat.
“The biggest beneficiaries of subsidy are not Nigerians. They are crony capitalists that have big infrastructure, and they do contracts. They have been the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidy,” he said.
Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu, speaks to those in the electricity sector about the usual blackouts in the state.
He speaks on ways things can change in the state and how electricity can be provided.
“We need to drop corporate egos, abandon long-standing excuses, and confront the harsh realities obstructing progress in the power sector.”
“We, state governments, used to give excuses that everything is centralised, so the Federal Government has unbundled it now. What have we done in a year and a half?” Sanwo-Olu asked.
“We take two steps forward, we go five steps backward,” he said.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared Thursday, August 20, a work-free day for public servants in the state to mark the Isese Festival.
Speaking on the celebration, he said “Ìṣẹ̀ṣe is not a relic. It is a living expression of our traditions and a celebration of Yoruba spirituality as an important part of Nigeria’s cultural and religious landscape,” he said.
He added “When the drums sound in Lagos on Thursday, they answer drums in Havana, in Salvador, in Port of Spain. Fifty-five million people and counting. Lagos is not observing a local holiday. Lagos is standing at the centre of a global heritage,” Aregbe said.
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