Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has raised an alarm over the refusal of a Federal High Court in Abuja to issue a production warrant needed to ensure Kanu’s presence in court for the settlement of records in an appeal the IPOB leader filed before he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Kanu was sentenced on November 20, 2025.
Ejimakor raised the alarm on Wednesday in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, where he attached a copy of the court summons requiring Kanu’s appearance.
According to him, the summons scheduled Kanu to appear before the Federal High Court on November 28 for the settlement of records relating to an appeal he filed prior to the court’s judgment delivered on November 20.
He wrote, “This is a Summons to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to be present on November 28 at Federal High Court in Abuja for settlement of record for the appeal he filed before the November 20 judgment. A production warrant is required for the Sokoto Prison to bring him to Abuja but the Court refused to issue it.”
The lawyer expressed shock that despite issuing the summons, the court declined to grant the production warrant, a mandatory order that authorizes prison authorities to convey an inmate from detention to the courtroom.
Without it, Ejimakor warned, Kanu cannot be physically present for the court proceedings, potentially undermining his right to a fair hearing and due process.
Ejimakor had raised concerns that transferring Kanu to a correctional facility in Sokoto, hundreds of kilometres from Abuja, posed a serious threat to his right and ability to file and pursue an appeal in his case.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief programme on Monday, November 24, Ejimakor warned that Kanu’s constitutional rights under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were now at risk.
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