Olayiwola Matthew
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the Nigerian Medical Association to, within eight days, constitute a panel of medical experts to assess the health condition of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
In his ruling, Justice James Omotosho ordered the NMA President to submit the committee’s report within eight days for consideration on whether Kanu should be transferred to the National Hospital for treatment.
The judge directed that the committee, among other tasks, should assess the Department of State Services hospital to confirm whether it has the capacity to meet Kanu’s health needs.
Justice Omotosho further ruled that the NMA committee would be at liberty to make use of any hospital in the country for its investigations.
He specified that the panel should comprise between eight and ten NMA members, including a cardiologist and a neurologist.
The Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital must also be part of the committee.
The decision followed conflicting medical reports presented by the DSS medical team and Kanu’s private consultants.
Earlier, the Department of State Services’ lead counsel, Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo, disclosed the NMA’s intervention while opposing an application by Kanu’s legal team for his transfer to the National Hospital for urgent treatment.
Awomolo explained that a team of medical experts had already visited Kanu in DSS custody to assess his health, adding that the DSS medical team, led by Dr Mohammed Nasir, maintained that his condition could be adequately managed within DSS facilities.
In contrast, Kanu’s private consultants, led by Professor Martin Aghaji, a retired professor of medicine from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, argued that his deteriorating health required urgent transfer to the National Hospital, and even suggested possible treatment abroad.
The DSS dismissed Aghaji’s report as exaggerated and suspicious, particularly for recommending foreign hospitals, and alleged that he had unilaterally altered Kanu’s medication without consulting DSS doctors who had been treating him for four years.
Awomolo further argued that transferring Kanu to the National Hospital would disrupt services and pose security risks, insisting that the federal government was committed to his safety and willing to allow him access to medical experts of his choice within DSS facilities.
Kanu’s lead counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, however, maintained that the transfer request was based on Aghaji’s findings. He stressed that the DSS lacked the facilities to manage Kanu’s ailments and argued that it was in the interest of justice that Kanu remain alive to face the terrorism charges against him.
Ikpeazu added that his team would not oppose the NMA’s intervention, provided it was ordered by the court.