One of the lawyers of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said that the visit of Senate Chief Whip Orji Kalu to Mr Kanu on Monday violated court orders.
Mr Kalu visited Kanu in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), revealing later that he counselled the IPOB leader during the visit.
In a release, however, on Tuesday Kanu’s lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor said the former Abia State governor’s visit did not meet court guidelines.
“We can at best describe what transpired yesterday (Monday) between a visitor whom the detaining authority ostensibly aided to violate the court-ordered guideline for visiting our client as bizarre and unusual,” he said.
“The DSS is not oblivious of the terms of the Court’s guideline which they have consistently maintained in the past that it must be obeyed to the letter, and through which position they had denied many friends and Attorneys of our client, access to him.
“However, caution was thrown to the wind yesterday and instead of insisting on this full compliance with the existing guideline, the DSS for reasons best known to them allowed a visitor access to our client even before the time scheduled for the formal visit and without his lawyers being present during the visit.
“It is of serious concern that the visit was conducted without strict adherence to the court-ordered guideline, but more condescending that the visit later became a subject of political gimmicks. If we, our Client’s Attorneys, his flesh and blood brothers, and his wife will visit him in due compliance with the court-ordered guideline, how can the DSS authorize a visit from any other person in gross violation of this guideline?
“There is more to it than meets the eyes, which the DSS is now under a compelling duty to explain to us. Granted that his name appeared among the list submitted at the 11th hour alongside the names of the lawyers scheduled for the visit, but hurriedly proceeding to conduct the visit without us being present in line with the requirement of the guideline left us with many unanswered questions.”
Ejiofor added that he and his team would demand investigation into Kalu’s visit.
“We have initiated a formal process towards ensuring a thorough investigation of what transpired, and we shall not hesitate to formally address the world on this subject if there is any attempt to sweep our petition under the carpet,” he said.
