The Federal High Court in Abuja has declined an urgent application by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, seeking to be relocated from his current detention facility in Sokoto to a custodial centre closer to the capital.
Kanu, who has remained in custody since his 2021 rearrest and subsequent transfer to the Sokoto Correctional Centre, filed the ex-parte motion through the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.
The application sought an immediate order directing the Federal Government or the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to move him to either the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja or the Keffi Custodial Centre in Nasarawa State.
As an alternative, his legal team asked the court to transfer him to any facility within its jurisdiction, including Suleja or Keffi, arguing that proximity to Abuja would help him effectively prosecute his pending appeal challenging his ongoing trial on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony.
Delivering the ruling on Monday, Justice James Omotosho refused the request, citing the need to uphold fair-hearing principles. He held that such an order could not be granted ex parte without giving the respondents an opportunity to be heard.
The judge directed Kanu’s counsel to refile the application as a motion on notice so all relevant parties—including the Federal Government and the NCoS can be served and allowed to respond.
The matter was adjourned to January 27, 2026, for the formal hearing of the motion.