On Wednesday, May 21, an officer from Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), known only as BBB, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the agency was not involved in arresting Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the group called IPOB, in Kenya.
BBB was the second witness in the trial and answered questions from Kanu’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro. He explained that the DSS only works inside Nigeria and doesn’t carry out actions in other countries.
“DSS did not kidnap Kanu in Kenya. We are confined to Nigeria. We did not arrest Kanu in Kenya,” he told the court.
BBB said that while he wasn’t sure if Radio Biafra, a station linked to Kanu, had stopped broadcasting, Kanu had admitted to starting it. He also said the DSS is supposed to stay neutral and not take sides, even when politicians are involved.
When asked directly if he helped arrest Kanu in Kenya, BBB clearly said no.
Judges previously ruled against Kanu’s arrest
Erokoro then brought three court rulings that supported Kanu’s claim that he was arrested wrongly. The rulings came from:
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January 19 from a court in Umuahia
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October 26 from another court in Umuahia
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October 26 from a court in Enugu
These judges had criticized how Kanu was arrested and how his house was invaded.
BBB said the DSS only arrested Kanu in Lagos and that Kanu had told his supporters to harm security officers. When the lawyer said Kanu only told his followers to defend themselves if attacked, BBB responded:
“I am not aware of any law in Nigeria that allows anybody to kill a fellow human being.”
He also said he hadn’t heard of anyone in DSS, including the boss, telling Nigerians to protect themselves in that way.
Trial paused until May 22 over missing video
Later, Erokoro asked the judge to pause the trial so the defence could prepare to show video clips. The prosecutor, Adegboyega Awomolo, disagreed and reminded the judge that time had already been set aside for May 21 and May 22.
The judge, Justice James Omotosho, agreed to delay the trial until Thursday, May 22, but warned that the defence must finish asking questions that day.
Trouble over social media posts
Before the trial began, both lead lawyers—Kanu Agabi for the defence and Awomolo for the prosecution—complained about a member of the defence team. They said someone was sharing court updates online in a way that twisted the truth.
Agabi said he would apologise even though he didn’t know who made the posts. Awomolo showed the judge social media content he said came from the courtroom.
The judge responded by saying social media behavior like that was unprofessional and could lead to serious consequences:
“Most of these things are gross misconduct on which you could be disbarred.
It is a misconduct. I don’t want to mention any name. The person knows himself. Let us act well.”
