DAILY POST
The Abuja Federal High Court has issued a “show cause notice” to the Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, Adeola Ajayi following the secret police’s decision not to allow Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, access to his lawyers.
The notice signed by the court’s Registrar ordered the DSS DG to show cause why he would not be imprisoned for disobeying it earlier order allowing Kanu access to his lawyers.
On October 18, the Abuja Federal High Court had warned Ajayi that he will be liable for contempt for failure to allow lawyers access to Kanu in DSS custody.
On October 23, DSS operatives reportedly disobeyed a court order by barring Kanu’s lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor and other members of the legal team from having access to the IPOB leader.
Kanu is currently detained at that DSS facility in Abuja, despite court judgments ordering his release.
However, disclosing the new notice from the court on Friday, Ejimakor insisted that the DSS DG was acting on the legal advice from its counsel, Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo.
In a statement he signed, Ejimakor said: “Yesterday, the Registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja issued a judicial process against Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi (the Director-General of State Security Services) to show cause why he should not be committed to prison for his disobedience of court order concerning visitations to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by his lawyers.
“The Notice which is signed by the Registrar of Federal High Court, Abuja, states, inter alia: “Take Notice that the Defendant will apply to this court for an order for your committal to prison for having disobeyed the order of this court made on the 20th day of May, 2024”. By this Notice, Mr. Ajayi will be required to personally appear in Court to answer for himself.
“This Notice was triggered by the refusal of Mr. Ajayi to retrace his steps after he was, on 18th October 2024, issued a judicial warning (by the Registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja) on the penal consequences of his persistent disobedience of the court-ordered Counsel visitation to Mazi Kanu.
“In particular, on 23rd October 2024, acting on the instructions and orders of Mr. Ajayi, armed officers of the DSS barricaded Mazi Kanu’s lawyers (Aloy Ejimakor and Mandela Umegborogu) from having access to Mazi Kanu on a routine visitation aimed at discussing his case with him and ascertaining his general wellbeing. It was the contemplation of this judicial Notice that made us to embargo any official press statement on this matter until this moment.
“It is self-evident that Mr. Ajayi is acting on the legal advice emanating from their private Counsel, Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), who is holding the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation (Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN).
“In addition to the said legal advice, Chief Awomolo had on behalf of AGF Fagbemi and the Federal Government filed an application (on 7th October 2024) before the Court, stating that the recusal of Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako from this case has invalidated all the Orders made by her in the case.
“In rebuttal, we filed a process, stating that if the Orders made by Justice Nyako are now – by virtue of her recusal – null and void, then the order of remand/detention of Mazi Kanu which was also made by her has become null and void, thus rendering Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s detention unconstitutional.
