Court Orders Medical Probe into Nnamdi Kanu’s Health, Gives NMA Eight Days

A Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to assemble a panel of medical experts to evaluate the health status of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Delivering the ruling on Friday, Justice James Omotosho said the report must be submitted within eight days to guide the court in deciding whether Kanu should be transferred from the Department of State Services (DSS) custody to the National Hospital in Abuja for treatment.

The judge ordered the NMA to constitute a committee of between eight and ten doctors, including a cardiologist, a neurologist, and the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital. The panel is expected to inspect the DSS medical facility to determine whether it has the capacity to manage Kanu’s health challenges.

The IPOB leader, who is facing a seven-count terrorism charge, has repeatedly raised concerns over his deteriorating health while in detention. In an open letter on Thursday, Kanu accused the Federal Government of manipulating the judicial system to prolong his incarceration, describing it as “serial executive and judicial fraud.”

He cited multiple rulings—including a 2017 Federal High Court judgment that declared IPOB a lawful organisation, the 2022 Appeal Court ruling condemning his rendition from Kenya, and the Supreme Court’s pronouncement that his bail was wrongly revoked—as evidence that the state was deliberately undermining due process in his case.

Kanu insisted that he would not submit to any trial before what he described as a “compromised court.”

Friday’s ruling marks a critical development in his long-running legal battle, as the court moves to independently verify his medical condition amid growing calls for his release.