A motion filed by the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, for the Director-General of the Department of States Services (DSS) to give oral evidence on his state of health has been rejected by a Federal high Court.
On Wednesday Justice Taiwo Taiwo, in ruling, held that fundamental rights cases are special cases “sui generis” which mode of commencement are affidavit evidence as prescribed under Order 2, Rule 2 of the Fundamental Human Right Enforcement Procedure Rules, 2009.
The Justice said that though there were various modes of commencement of action, including fundamental right cases, he said Kanu (applicant) chose to commence his “under the Fundamental Right Enforcement Procedure Rules that stipulates affidavit evidence.”
He ruled that after carefully perusing all the affidavits of the applicant and the respondents before him, he was of the view that there was no irreconcilable conflicts in the affidavits.
The judge, therefore, declined to grant Kanu’s application and was accordingly dismissed.
Kanu’s Lawyer, Maxwell Opara had in the application, prayed the court to direct the DSS DG and the IPOB leader to appear before it to give oral evidence regarding the health condition of the latter.
Kanu, through his lawyer, had, in a fundamental rights enforcement suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1585/2021, sued the DG of DSS and the office as 1st and 2nd respondents respectively. He also joined the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 3rd respondent in the suit dated and filed Dec. 13, 2021.
Opara had alleged that the health of his client was deteriorating in the DSS custody, among others.
However, the DSS, through its counsel, Idowu Awo, disagreed with Opara. He argued that while the judge had powers to call oral evidence of parties, Kanu’s lawyer had not shown how the doctors attending to his client were doing “quack” work.
He further argued that merely stating that the medical doctors his office assigned to attend to Kanu were quacks did not amount to conflict.
“It is important to note that the applicant has not denied the above assertion by the respondents neither has he shown by material particulars that the listed medical practitioners are quacks.
“The onus lies on the applicant via a further affidavit,” he said.
He prayed the court to discountenance the application. Taiwo adjourned the matter until April 13 for the hearing of the substantive application.
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