A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a stern warning to Adeola Ajayi, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), regarding his failure to comply with court-ordered visitations for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Kanu has been in DSS custody since his re-arrest in 2021 and faces multiple charges, including treasonable felony.
Kanu's legal team has repeatedly accused the DSS of obstructing access to their client, despite a court ruling that mandates visitation rights on specific days. On October 18, the court registrar served Ajayi a “Form 48 notice of consequences of disobedience to the order of court,” warning that non-compliance could lead to imprisonment.
The notice explicitly states, “Unless you obey the directions contained in this order—by allowing the applicant’s counsel to conduct the court-ordered visitations with the applicant on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”
The court had previously ruled that up to five members of Kanu’s legal team should be permitted to visit him on the designated days. However, the DSS has reportedly ignored this directive, leading to the court's strong admonition.
Aloy Ejimakor, one of Kanu's lead counsels, also threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against Ajayi if the situation does not improve. He expressed frustration over the DSS's ongoing denial of visitation rights for nearly a month, stating, “This notice is necessitated by the repeated disobedience of the court-ordered visitation.”
Ejimakor emphasized that the notice serves as a warning of the penal consequences for disobeying a court order, asserting that further non-compliance would leave them no choice but to pursue contempt proceedings against the DSS Director-General.