The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday struck out an appeal filed by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, challenging alleged violations of his fundamental rights, describing the case as without merit and academic following his conviction for terrorism.

A three-member panel of the appellate court held that Kanu’s claims of breaches to his rights to human dignity, quality health care, and religion during his detention by the Department of State Services (DSS) were no longer actionable after his November 20 conviction and life imprisonment sentence by a Federal High Court.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Boloukuromo Moses Ugo noted that the substance of the appeal became academic when Kanu’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, confirmed at proceedings that his client was being held in Sokoto prison. The judge said the court could no longer grant Kanu’s request to be relocated to Kuje prison, as he had already been remanded in the facility he preferred.

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The appeal challenged a July 3 ruling by Justice Taiwo Taiwo (now retired) of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had dismissed Kanu’s fundamental rights enforcement suit for failing to prove his case.

The respondents in the appeal were the Director General of the DSS, the DSS, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).