A federal high court in Abuja has issued a stern warning to Adeola Ajayi, the newly appointed Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), against disobeying court-ordered visitation for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Kanu has been in DSS custody since his re-arrest in Kenya and extradition to Nigeria in 2021. He is currently standing trial on a seven-count charge related to treasonable felony. Kanu’s legal team has repeatedly accused the DSS of denying them access to their client, despite a court order mandating the DSS to grant Kanu access to his lawyers, not exceeding five persons on every visiting day.
On Friday, the registrar of the federal high court in Abuja issued a “form 48 notice of consequences of disobedience to the order of court” against the DSS Director-General. The notice warns that if Ajayi disobeys the court order by not allowing Kanu’s counsel to conduct the court-ordered visitations on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, he will be guilty of contempt of court and liable to imprisonment.
Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to the IPOB leader, released a statement on Friday, indicating that the notice was necessitated by the repeated disobedience of the court-ordered visitation by the newly appointed DSS Director-General. Ejimakor stated that if Ajayi persists in his disobedience, the defense team will have no other option than to commence vigorous contempt proceedings against him.
The notice serves as a forewarning of the penal consequences of misconduct for any person disobeying a court order.