Nnamdi Kanu tells court he is going blind in detention and desperately needs glasses

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has told the federal high court in Abuja that he is losing his sight in detention and urgently needs to be provided with glasses to prevent him going blind.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu has been campaigning for the recreation of the independent republic of Biafra which broke away from Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970 during the civil war. His campaign, which has led to the phenomenal growth of Ipob, has set him at odds with the Nigerian government who him arrested and put on trial for treason.

While the case was still pending, Mr Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds but skipped his bail after flouting the conditions given to him by the court and fled Nigeria. In a dramatic development, in June last year, Mr Kanu was abducted in Kenya and flown to Nigeria, where he has since been arrayed in court in Abuja, with fresh charges added to the pending ones.

At the resumption of his trial in Abuja today, Mr Kanu complained bitterly that he was going blind and pleaded with the judge to rescue him. He added that since his re-arrest, he had not been allowed to receive reading glasses provided by his family.

Chief Mike Ozekhome, Mr Kanu's lawyer, informed Justice Binta Nyako that his client's glasses were damaged when he was arrested in Kenya. He further claimed that the glasses Mr Kanu brought to Nigeria in 2015 when he was first arrested were seized by the Department of State Services (DSS) and have not been released to him.

Furthermore, Mr Kanu also complained that he had not been allowed to take clothes from his family, hence, he has been wearing the same attire since his re-arrest in June last year. He is also asking the court to dismiss the charges against him on the grounds that the alleged offences he is being arraigned for were not committed in Nigeria.

Mr Kanu also claimed that no prima facie has been made against him by the Nigerian federal government in support of the charges. Among the charged Mr Kanu faces are treason and running an illegal radio station.