A Federal High Court in Abuja has summoned Adeola Ajayi, Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), to explain why he should not be imprisoned for contempt for allegedly disregarding Court orders.
The court notice issued by the registrar on October 24, 2024 states, “And take further notice that you are hereby required to attend the court on the first mentioned day to show cause why an order for your committal should not be made.”
The court highlighted the DSS’s failure to comply with a previous order permitting Kanu’s lawyers to visit him for three days each week at the DSS facility in Abuja, allowing him to prepare his defense. Despite the directives from Justice Binta Nyako, the lawyers, led by Aloy Ejimakor Esq, were reportedly denied access on October 22 based on instructions from the DG.
This latest order has been communicated to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), along with the prosecution counsel for the federal government, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN).
Kanu, had previously requested Justice Nyako to recuse herself from the case on September 24. However, the matter has since been reassigned to continue under the same judge.
Reacting to the order issued against the Director General of the State Security Services, Mr Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, by the Registrar of the Federal High Court Abuja, the Special Counsel for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Barr Aloy Ejimakor has explained that the notice implied that the DSS DG would be required to personally appear in court to answer for himself.
He said, “This Notice was triggered by the refusal of Mr Ajayi to retrace his steps after he was, on 18th October 2024, issued a judicial warning (by the Registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja) on the penal consequences of his persistent disobedience of the court-ordered Counsel visitation to Mazi Kanu.
“In particular, on 23rd October 2024, acting on the instructions and orders of Mr Ajayi, armed officers of the DSS barricaded Mazi Kanu’s lawyers (Aloy Ejimakor and Mandela Umegborogu) from having access to Mazi Kanu on a routine visitation aimed at discussing his case with him and ascertaining his general wellbeing.
Ejimakor alleged that, “Chief Awomolo had on behalf of AGF Fagbemi and the Federal Government filed an application (on 7th October 2024) before the court, stating that the recusal of Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako from this case has invalidated all the orders made by her in the case.
“In rebuttal, we filed a process, stating that if the Orders made by Justice Nyako are now – by virtue of her recusal – null and void, then the order of remand/detention of Mazi Kanu which was also made by her has become null and void, thus rendering Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s detention unconstitutional.”
“Standing on this Attorney-General’s evident nullification of all the orders made by Justice Nyako in this case, including the order upon which Mazi Kanu remains in incarceration, we hereby call on the Federal Government to follow their logic by freeing Mazi Kanu immediately because his detention no longer has the backing of a valid court order.
“It is impermissible for the federal government to invalidate the order on Counsel visitation to Mazi Kanu and insist at the same time that the order by which he is detained is still valid.
“In other words, it is wrong and unconstitutional for the Federal Government (or the DSS) to cherry-pick which orders it will obey and the ones it will disobey. No sane society anchored on rule of law should tolerate this.
“This latest interference with Mazi Kanu’s constitutional right of unfettered access to his lawyers underscores the case we have been making in court and in public that continuing to detain Mazi Kanu at the DSS constitutes a permanent institutional hindrance to any prospect of garnering him a fair trial.”
Ejimakor said that ““As it stands today and by the sheer misconduct of the prosecution, any trial whilst Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains in the custody of the State Security Services (DSS) has become impossible. And going by the current stance of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention has become extrajudicial to boot.”
Nnamdi Kanu has been in DSS custody since his re-arrest in Kenya and extradition to Nigeria in 2021.
He is currently on trial for a seven-count charge related to treasonable felony.
