DSS accused of punishing detainees in its custody who interact with Nnamdi Kanu

NIGERIAN Department of State Services (DSS) officials have been accused of meting out unfair punishment to any of its detainees who interact with Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu currently in its custody.

Mr Kanu is currently in detention at a DSS facility in Abuja as he is facing trial for treason but according to his lawyers Ifeanyi Ejiofor and Aloy Ejimakor, their client is being maltreated. They added that Mr Kanu’s detention conditions amount to torture and continues to be harsh, degrading and inhumane, in breach of a court order.

They said: “That he is solitarily, confined to a very tiny cell 23 hours of the day without access to sunlight and any social interactions whatsoever. He believes that this is aimed at inflicting extreme emotional and mental distress on him and breaking him psychologically.

“That any detainee who encounters and greets him during the single hour he is allowed outside his cell is promptly put in solitary confinement or transferred to maximum security as a punishment for exchanging mere greetings with him. Because of this, detainees have resorted to avoiding him and exchanging salutations with him, not to talk of any other form of social interactions.

“Since the Nigerian government extraordinarily renditioned him, he has not been allowed a change of clothing and his Jewish prayer shawls and other religious materials brought to him by his counsel were rejected and returned. That the DSS has refused to replace his corrective glasses which were smashed to smithereens by agents of the Nigerian government in the process of the violence they unleashed on him while abducting him in Kenya, has led to a rapid deterioration of his sight.

“That he is restricted to meeting with his counsel in an atmosphere devoid of private discussions with his counsel; and he is oftentimes denied perusal of legal documentation his Counsel brings to him to review. That he is not allowed to sleep with a pillow and this has led to him developing acid reflux which comes with acute burning sensations in his chest, chest pains and extreme difficulty in swallowing.

Nnamdi Kanu is a holder of Nigerian and British passports. He had earlier jumped bail in June 2018 before leaving for the United Kingdom although he said that he fled because his life was no longer safe in Nigeria.