The legal team of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has fired a sharp rebuke at the Department of State Services (DSS), accusing the agency of spreading “false propaganda” about his health and providing what it calls “quack medical attention.”
In a forceful statement on Thursday, counsel Onyedikachi Ifedi, Esq., dismissed recent media reports—particularly from The Nation—that downplayed Kanu’s medical condition. He described them as part of a broader DSS campaign to “malign our client and misinform the public.”
“The facts are clear: the DSS has been playing hide-and-seek with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s health,” Ifedi said. He criticized the sudden involvement of Dr. Nasiru Mohammed, alleging the doctor lacks the expertise to manage life-threatening cardiovascular conditions and was thrust into Kanu’s care for political purposes.
Ifedi also questioned the rationale behind sending Kanu’s blood samples to South Africa if his health posed no risk. “If the DSS has nothing to hide, why refuse to release the full, unedited results?” he asked, accusing the agency of resorting to “desperate lies and media smokescreens.”
The lawyer further condemned the DSS for overstepping medical boundaries. “A security agency that cannot grasp the dangers of aortic valve regurgitation or congestive heart failure has no business managing the life of a man already endangered by their detention,” he said.
Challenging the DSS to transparency, Ifedi called for a public press conference with independent journalists and medical experts to scrutinize Kanu’s condition. He also alleged the DSS pressures doctors to alter reports to suit its narrative in court, exploiting what he described as a biased judicial system.
“The health and life of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu are not pawns in a propaganda war,” Ifedi concluded. “We will continue to expose every falsehood and hold the DSS accountable before Nigerians and the world.”