NMA Steps In as DSS, Private Doctors Clash Over Nnamdi Kanu’s Health

|By Chinwendu Nwani

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has intervened in the heated dispute between medical personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) and private consultants over the health condition of detained Biafra agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Lead counsel to the DSS, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday that the NMA has set up a seven-member probe panel to investigate conflicting medical reports. He said the panel, made up of eminent experts, had already visited Kanu in custody to conduct an independent assessment.

Tensions erupted after the DSS medical team, led by Dr. Mohammed Nasir, insisted that Kanu’s health could be managed at their facility. In contrast, Kanu’s private consultants, headed by retired professor of medicine, Martin Aghaji, argued that his client’s worsening condition required urgent transfer to the National Hospital.

Professor Aghaji’s report, which partly recommended treatment in American hospitals, was dismissed by the DSS as exaggerated and suspicious. Awomolo further alleged that Aghaji altered Kanu’s medication without involving DSS doctors who had managed him for four years.

Kanu’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, maintained that his client’s transfer was vital, stressing that it posed no security risk and would guarantee his ability to stand trial. But the DSS opposed the request, warning that moving Kanu would disrupt services at the National Hospital and compromise his safety.

After hearing both sides, Justice James Omotosho reserved his ruling. Meanwhile, the court awaits the NMA’s independent findings, which could determine the next course of action in the long-running legal and medical battle.