Kanu Agabi, senior advocate of Nigeria, SAN, a former Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and lead defence lawyer in the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, SAN, has denied a report that officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, denied him and members of his team access to their client on Monday in Abuja
Agabi confirmed this at the resumed hearing in the case on Wednesday while responding to an enquiry by Justice James Omotosho on the veracity of a report attributed to a member of the defence team, Alloy Ejimakor.
Justice Omotosho said Ejimakor posted on one of his social media platforms that the DSS denied the legal team access to the IPOB leader.
Agabi confirmed that it did not happen. He blamed Ejimakor for the mix-up and commended the conduct of the DSS officials whom he said were very respectful and courteous.
“I was not denied access to the defendant. We had arranged to go there with myself, Ikpeazu, Etiaba, Erokoro. But for some reasons, they were not available.
“When I got to the gate around 1 pm, they said our name had not arrived. To be fair, they (the DSS officials) showed me enough respect. I said I will come back another date,” said Agabi.
He said he was surprised and angry when he later learned that a member of his team uploaded a story online that he was denied access to the defendant.
Further asked by the judge what informed his decision, Ejimakor said he thought Agabi was angry that he was denied access to Kanu when they spoke on the phone, a position the ex-AGF countered and explained that he got angry because Ejimakor gave him the wrong time for the appointment.
Anayochukwu Agbo
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