Sokoto Prison Not Safe for Nnamdi Kanu, says Lawyer after US Air Strikes

Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, has called for the transfer of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from Sokoto state following an air strike in Jabo village.

The United States launched a fusillade of air strikes on ISIS terrorists in Sokoto. US President Donald Trump said the strikes were “powerful and deadly”.

The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) noted that the strike was at “the request of Nigerian authorities”.

In a post on X, Ejimakor demanded Kanu’s immediate transfer from Sokoto prison, citing safety concerns.

“The US military strike against terrorists in Sokoto has finally confirmed that Sokoto is riddled with terrorists and thus was never a safe place of custody for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” he wrote.

“It is now more urgent that he be transferred out of the terrorist belt of Northern Nigeria.”

The IPOB leader was remanded in Sokoto prison following his conviction on a seven-count terrorism-related charge by a federal high court in Abuja on November 20.

On December 8, the court rejected Kanu’s application seeking transfer from Sokoto Correctional Facility to a custodial facility within the FCT or neighbouring cities.

James Omotosho, the presiding judge, held that the reliefs sought cannot be brought through ex parte, noting that the federal government and the NCoS ought to have been joined as parties in the application.

The matter has been adjourned till January 27, 2026, to enable Kanu serve the prosecution and NCoS as ordered by the court and for the motion to be heard.

Meanwhile, Bashir Ahmad, former special assistant on digital communications to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, described the call for Kanu’s transfer as unreasonable.

“Kanu is a convicted terrorist and the U.S. strikes were aimed at terrorist targets, so under those circumstances, there is no reasonable basis for calling for his relocation. Whether political or otherwise, Kanu is a convicted terrorist and now serving life imprisonment in Sokoto,” he said.