By James
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The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, struck out an application filed by the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, seeking his transfer from the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
In a ruling delivered by Justice James Omotosho, the court held that the application was incompetent and, therefore, liable to be struck out.
Kanu, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on November 20, 2025, had approached the court through an ex parte motion he personally signed, arguing that his detention in Sokoto State would undermine his ability to effectively pursue an appeal against his conviction.
In the motion marked FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, Kanu raised eight grounds in support of his request. He recalled that after being found guilty on a seven-count terrorism charge preferred against him by the Federal Government, the court ordered that he be committed to any correctional facility in Nigeria except the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
He further stated that on November 21, 2025, he was transferred to the Sokoto Correctional Facility, located over 700 kilometres from Abuja, where the trial court and appellate court registries are situated.
Kanu told the court that he is currently unrepresented by counsel and intends to personally exercise his constitutional right of appeal against both his conviction and sentence. According to him, preparing the notice of appeal and compiling the record of appeal would require his direct interaction with the registries of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
He also argued that all individuals critical to assisting him with his appeal, including relatives, associates, and legal consultants, are based in Abuja, making his continued detention in Sokoto impracticable and burdensome.
Kanu maintained that remaining in Sokoto would impose exceptional hardship on him and could potentially defeat his right of appeal, which he said would amount to a violation of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
However, the court struck out the application after counsel from the Legal Aid Council, previously handling the matter, applied to withdraw from the case, citing irreconcilable differences with the applicant. The court agreed that, in the circumstances, the motion could not be sustained.
With the ruling, Kanu remains at the Sokoto Correctional Centre, even as his family continues to reject the life sentence and insists that the conviction will be challenged at the appellate courts.
