The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has waded into the raging controversy over the health condition of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, by setting up a seven-man committee to independently assess his medical status.
The move comes amid sharp disagreements between the medical team of the Department of State Services (DSS) and private consultants engaged by Kanu.
Lead counsel to the DSS, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), disclosed the intervention on Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, while opposing an application seeking Kanu’s transfer to the National Hospital for urgent medical care.
According to him, eminent doctors drawn from across the country under the NMA had already visited Kanu in DSS custody to carry out an independent evaluation.
While the DSS medical officer, Dr Mohammed Nasir, insisted that the secret police have adequate facilities to manage Kanu’s health, the IPOB leader’s consultant, Professor Martin Aghaji, a retired professor of medicine from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, maintained that the situation required urgent transfer to the National Hospital.
Professor Aghaji’s report, which warned of a deteriorating condition, further recommended possible treatment abroad. But the DSS dismissed the report as “exaggerated and suspicious,” alleging that Aghaji unilaterally altered Kanu’s medication and failed to involve DSS doctors in his examinations.
“The exclusion of our medical officers casts serious doubt on the credibility of that report,” Awomolo told the court, adding that a transfer to the National Hospital could “disrupt operations and create chaos” given the security risks surrounding Kanu.
But lead defence counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), countered that the transfer application was purely in the interest of justice. He argued that keeping Kanu alive and fit was essential for him to stand trial on terrorism-related charges.
He assured the court that the National Hospital posed no security threat and stressed that his client had no intention of escaping.
Justice James Omotosho, after listening to arguments from both sides, reserved his ruling, promising to deliver it later today.
