The Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, struck out an ex parte application filed by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group that campaigns for an independent Biafra in south-east Nigeria. Kanu had asked the court to order his transfer out of the Sokoto Correctional Centre in north-west Nigeria.
Justice James Omotosho, a judge of the Federal High Court, removed the application from the court’s list after the Legal Aid Council, a Nigerian government agency that provides free legal services to indigent citizens, asked to withdraw from the case. The council’s lawyer, Demdoo Asan, told the court that there had been irreconcilable disagreements between counsel and the applicant.
Kanu was convicted on Thursday, 20 November 2025, on terrorism-related offences and sentenced to life imprisonment. His family rejected the judgment and said it would challenge the decision on appeal.
After the sentencing, Kanu was moved to the Sokoto Correctional Centre to serve his term. The court had previously stated that the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja would not be suitable for him.
Kanu later returned to court with an ex parte motion dated Monday, 8 December 2025, requesting relocation to a custodial facility closer to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the administrative area that includes Abuja. In the application, he suggested Suleja, a town in Niger State in north-central Nigeria, or a custodial centre in Keffi, a town in Nasarawa State, also in north-central Nigeria.
In court on Tuesday, Asan said the process could not move forward because Kanu’s relatives, despite repeated communication, did not come to the Legal Aid Council office to swear to documents meant to support the application. He also complained that the applicant was attempting to direct how the case should be presented in court, including instructing counsel on what to say, which he described as unacceptable for a lawyer acting as an officer of the court.
Asan added that after consulting senior officials within the Legal Aid Council, the team agreed to withdraw, maintaining that legal proceedings could not be controlled by a client from detention.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho praised the lawyer for protecting the dignity of the court and granted the Legal Aid Council permission to step aside from the matter. The judge also struck out the transfer request, describing it as incompetent and pointing to the absence of proof that relevant parties had been served with court papers since the last adjournment on Monday, 8 December 2025.