Court Orders NMA to Set Up Panel on Nnamdi Kanu’s Health Within Eight Days

The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to constitute a panel of medical experts to evaluate the health status of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Delivering the ruling on Friday, Justice James Omotosho ordered the NMA President to submit the panel’s report within eight days. The report will guide the court in deciding whether Kanu should be transferred to the National Hospital for further treatment.

According to the court, the panel must consist of between eight and ten doctors, including a cardiologist, a neurologist, and the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital. It is also empowered to examine the Department of State Services (DSS) hospital to determine if it has the capacity to manage Kanu’s health needs, and may utilize any hospital in the country for its investigations.

The ruling followed conflicting medical reports presented by the DSS medical team and Kanu’s private consultants. While the DSS doctors, led by Dr Mohammed Nasir, insisted his condition could be managed in custody, Kanu’s private consultant, Prof. Martin Aghaji, argued that his health required urgent treatment at the National Hospital and possibly abroad. The DSS dismissed Aghaji’s report as exaggerated and questioned his alteration of Kanu’s medications without consultation.

Kanu’s counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, insisted that the DSS lacked adequate facilities to manage his client’s ailments, stressing that it was crucial Kanu remain alive to face the terrorism charges against him. He, however, welcomed the court’s decision to involve the NMA, provided it was under judicial order.