The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to set up a panel of medical experts to evaluate the health status of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The order, issued on Friday by Justice James Omotosho, follows a dispute between Kanu’s private physicians and medical officers at the Department of State Services (DSS), where he is being held.
Kanu’s medical team, led by Dr. Martin Aghaji, a retired professor of medicine from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, had warned of his deteriorating health and recommended his immediate transfer to the National Hospital in Abuja or a foreign medical facility.
However, the federal government, through its lead counsel Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), opposed the request. The prosecution argued that a team of DSS medical experts, led by Dr. Mohammed Nasir, had examined Kanu and assured that he could be adequately treated within the DSS facility.
Awomolo further told the court that the report by Kanu’s private doctors was exaggerated and suspicious, especially since it recommended treatment in the United States. He revealed that the NMA had already constituted a seven-man panel to examine the discrepancies between both medical reports, while another team of senior practitioners had also visited Kanu at the DSS facility.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho said the independent panel would help the court decide whether Kanu should be moved to the National Hospital. He ordered that the NMA’s report be submitted within eight days.
The judge specified that the panel should comprise between eight and ten members, 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 if it can meet Kanu’s health needs, but is also permitted to use any hospital in the country for its investigations.
