Why I don’t want to stay in Sokoto prison – Nnamdi Kanu

as court fixes Dec 8 to hear motion for transfer,

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Abuja.

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, who was recently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, has filed a fresh motion before the Federal High Court in Abuja, adducing reasons why he should be transferred from Sokoto prison.

Kanu, in a motion ex parte he personally signed, told the court that his detention in Sokoto Custodial Center would hamper his ability to effectively appeal against his conviction and sentence.

The motion was presented before the trial court on Thursday by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, who is a younger brother to the embattled IPOB leader.

The applicant said in view of the impossibility of his appearance before the court or chambers to personally move the motion, the judge should proceed and hear it in his absence.

In the eight grounds he raised in support of the motion ex parte marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, Kanu stressed that he was on November 20, sentenced by the court after it found him guilty of the seven-count terrorism charge the federal government preferred against him.

He said the court, after the sentence, ordered his detention in any correctional facility in the country except the Kuje Correctional Centre.

He said: “On the 21st of November 2025, the applicant was transferred to, and is currently detained at the Sokoto Correctional Facility, which is over 700 kilometres from Abuja.

“The applicant, who is currently unrepresented by counsel, intends to personally exercise his constitutional right of appeal against the conviction and sentence.

“The preparation of the notice of appeal and the record of appeal requires the Applicant’s personal interface with the Registry of this Honourable Court and the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

“All persons critical to assisting the applicant in preparing his appeal, including his relatives, associates, and legal consultants, are based in Abuja.

“The applicant’s continued detention in Sokoto renders his constitutional right to appeal impracticable, occasioning exceptional hardship and potentially defeating the said right, in violation of Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” he added.

Kanu maintained that it would be in the interest of justice for him to be transferred to a facility near Abuja to enable him to effectively prosecute his appeal.