Essential Ndubuisi
Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has raised an alarm over a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in the Department of State Services (DSS) facility where his client is being held in solitary confinement. Kanu, who is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been detained at the DSS headquarters in Abuja since June 2021.
Ejiofor, who led a legal team to visit Kanu today, April 20, 2023, disclosed that there is a TB outbreak in some wings of the DSS facility, and that an Igbo man, Mr. Emene Ibe Uduma, who was arrested from Ohafia in September 2022, is one of the victims. Uduma was reportedly healthy when he was brought to the facility, but he is now at the verge of losing his life on account of TB infection.
According to Ejiofor, all the TB infected persons are kept in solitary confinement in their cells without access to fresh air and sunlight. He noted that the TB bacteria cannot thrive in an atmosphere of fresh air and sunlight, and that keeping the infected inmates in conditions under which the bacteria is easily circulated amongst them is further worsening their plight. Ejiofor further revealed that the infected inmates are not receiving any medical attention.
In response to the situation, Kanu directed his legal team to draw the attention of the Red Cross and other well-meaning health organizations to the predicament and plight of the infected inmates, who are in dire need of medical treatment. Kanu, who was also diagnosed with an ear problem, requires advanced medical treatment for tinnitus ear infection, which is a result of the severe torture he received when he was abducted in Kenya.
Kanu’s legal team, led by Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has promised to do everything legally permissible to ensure that their client receives the much-needed independent medical examination and treatment. The continued detention of Kanu has been a subject of controversy, with his supporters accusing the Nigerian government of infringing on his human rights.
