A witness from Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) told a federal high court in Abuja that the secret police were not involved in the 2021 arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in Kenya.
The witness, given the code name BBB for security reasons, spoke on Wednesday during questioning by Paul Erokoro, Kanu’s defence lawyer.
The witness told the court that DSS handles Nigeria’s internal security matters and does not carry out operations in foreign countries.
“DSS did not kidnap Kanu in Kenya. We work only within Nigeria. We did not arrest Kanu in Kenya,” he said.
When the defence lawyer asked whether politicians or ministers can influence the DSS, the witness said the agency works under the office of the national security adviser.
He also said that Nigeria’s attorney-general does not supervise DSS operations.
The witness explained that DSS gathers information through many sources, including human contacts and social media monitoring.
He added that DSS agents can obtain information where necessary because of their training.
The witness said that Kanu told him that he was ‘kidnapped’ from Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in 2021.
However, BBB insisted that the DSS cannot make arrests outside Nigeria’s borders.
He told the court that Kanu admitted to owning Radio Biafra, adding that the radio broadcasts encouraged violence, including during the EndSARS protests in 2020.
Read Also: Nigerian Prison Service offers N5m reward for seven escaped inmates
He added that Kanu said he was ready to create Biafra by all means, including war.
BBB said that Kanu’s inflammatory comments led to the burning of a police station in Ebonyi state, a Lagos state high court, and part of Lagos airport.
During questioning, Erokoro asked for a break, telling the court that the defence wants to show a video clip as evidence.
He asked for time to prepare this.
The court accepted as evidence certified copies of three court judgments from human rights cases that Kanu had filed.
These include judgments from courts in Abia State, Umuahia, and Enugu State.
Earlier, when the court called the case, Kanu Agabi, the main defence lawyer, and Adegboyega Awomolo, the prosecution lawyer, complained about the behaviour of a defence team member whom they accused of misrepresenting court proceedings on social media.
Agabi said the prosecution sent him a letter complaining about some posts made on social media.
Awomolo confirmed that he wrote a letter on May 14 protesting the false information that people published on social media, particularly by Aloy Ejimakor, a member of Kanu’s legal team.
Awomolo said he learned that some people, including some lawyers, broadcast the court’s proceedings live online.
The prosecution lawyer said the case is very sensitive and should not be treated lightly, adding that “it is not fair to twist what happened in court when reporting to the public.”
James Omotosho, the judge hearing the case, said he agreed to speed up the trial in everyone’s interest, particularly for Kanu, who has been in prison for too long.
The judge told all parties in the case to act professionally to ensure progress. He warned Ejimakor to stop such behaviour that could lead to him losing his licence to practice law.
