Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) against the Department of State Services (DSS).
Justice Omotosho gave the ruling on Thursday, adding that Kanu’s suit lacked merit and ought to be dismissed.
Kanu, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/482/2022 and filed by his lawyer, had sued the Director General of DSS, DSS and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively.
Kanu has accused the DSS of maltreating him, including denying him his rights to wear any clothes of his choice like the Igbo traditional attire called “Isi-Agu,” while in their facility or any time he appeared in court for his trial.
He said the security outfit, while allowing other inmates in their custody the freedom to choose and wear any clothes of their choice, was restricted to wearing only a single cloth.
The applicant also accused the DSS of subjecting him to torture, breaching his right to dignity, among others.
He, therefore, sought an order directing the respondents to allow him to put on any clothes of his choice while in the facility or when appearing in public, among other reliefs.
In a counter affidavit filed by the DSS and its DG, they urged the court to dismiss Kanu’s claim, saying their operatives did not and had never tortured Kanu either physically or mentally while in their custody.
The DSS said Kanu is kept in their facility where every other suspect is kept.
They said it was untrue that other suspects were allowed to put on any clothes of their choice, including Hausa and Yoruba traditional wears.
They said the facility was not a recreational centre or traditional festival where Kanu and other suspects would be allowed to adore themselves in their respective traditional attires.
They argued that there is a Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) on dress code by persons in their facilities.
“That in line with global best practices, persons in the 1st and 2nd respondents’ facility are allowed to wear only plain clothes which do not bear symbols, writings, colours and insignias that are offensive to any religion, ethnic group or even the Nigeria state in general,” they said.
They accused Kanu’s family of bringing traditional attires and other clothings with Biafra insignias and a pair of red shoes decorated with shining beads for him to wear in custody and also to attend court for his trial.
The DSS said the clothes have colours of the non-existing Biafra Republic, which is the subject matter of the applicant’s criminal trial.
They said the Isi-Agu attire, popularly called a chieftaincy attire, was not a suitable dress for persons in detention facilities and against its SOP.
They also argued that Justice Binta Nyako, where Kanu is currently standing trial, had directed that Kanu should be allowed to wear any plain clothes of his choice and that anything contrary would contravene the court’s directive.
The DSS said it did not breach Kanu’s right to human dignity as alleged by the IPOB leader.
Justice Omotosho held that right to human dignity is contained in Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, adding that it was clear that a right to human dignity related to right against torture, inhuman treatment, among others.
The judge said Kanu’s case did not relate to torture or forced labour as he was never tortured in custody based on the evidence before the court.
He said a right to dignity was not a right to change clothes as an inmate in a prison.
“The applicant cannot come to court to seek for rights which are not in the constitution,” he said.
Besides, Justice Omotosho held that Kanu failed to provide the photographs and names of inmates who were allowed to wear different attires while in custody.
He said the onus was on him to prove his case but the applicant merely relied on bare facts without any evidence.
He described the IPOB leader’s allegations as “an hypothesis without concrete evidence.”
The judge, consequently, dismissed the case for lacking in merit.
A retired judge of the court, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, had dismissed a similar suit brought by Kanu in 2022.
Justice Taiwo in that judgement said Kanu had not provided sufficient evidence that his fundamental rights were infringed upon by the security outfit “as there is no proof of torture before the court.”
On Kanu’s right to practise his religion, the judge said while the applicant (Kanu) had the constitutional right to practice his religion in custody, he agreed with the position of the respondent (DSS) that a suspect in custody cannot be allowed to practise his religion in such a way that would disturb the peace of other suspects in custody.
Taiwo said that “the applicants fails to lead evidence on the allegation that the IPOB leader was receiving inadequate treatments from DSS’ doctors whom he had referred to as quacks, adding that Kanu failed by calling a medical practitioner to convince the court that based on the medical report, the treatment giving to Kanu is inadequate.
