The Department of State Services (DSS) has come under criticism for allegedly blocking the legal team of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, despite a subsisting court order that grants them unrestricted access to the detained IPOB leader.
In a statement issued in Abuja on October 31, 2025, human rights lawyer Barrister Maxwell Opara expressed shock over what he described as a “deliberate violation of the rule of law” by the security agency.
According to Opara, the court had earlier ordered that visitors, including lawyers, must have unhindered access to Kanu, who is currently in the custody of the DSS. However, following his latest visit, the agency reportedly issued a letter stating that Opara and his colleagues would no longer be allowed to visit the IPOB leader, claiming they were no longer his legal representatives.
“I am perplexed by how the DSS has positioned itself as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s Personal Assistant, deciding who should represent him in court,” Opara said.
The lawyer condemned the DSS’s move, insisting that he remains actively in charge of Kanu’s cases at the FCT High Court, Federal High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.
Opara further maintained that Nnamdi Kanu’s legal matters extend beyond his ongoing criminal trial, urging the DSS and the Federal Government to respect judicial authority and the constitutional rights of the detainee.
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He called on the security agency to comply with the existing court directives and desist from actions that could be seen as contemptuous or politically motivated.
