The family of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has warned the Directorate of State Services (DSS) against alleged incessant intimidation and harassment of their son’s independent medical team.
A statement signed by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, in a statement on behalf of the Okwu-Kanu family, said it had become imperative to expose the systematic harassment of Kanu’s independent physicians by the DSS and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
The family said it was disheartening that the DSS, which allegedly mismanaged Kanu’s health, has now turned around to punish the physicians who intervened to save Kanu’s life.
“Kanu’s health was systematically neglected and mismanaged. According to the independent medical team, state-appointed doctors allowed his potassium levels to fall to a life-threatening 1.9 mmol/L—a level capable of triggering cardiac arrest and sudden death.
“His hypertension remained poorly controlled, his kidney function deteriorated to established renal impairment, and serious cardiac abnormalities—including Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction and Cardiac Septal Hypertrophy—went untreated.
“When Emeritus Professor Dr. Martin Aghaji and his independent medical team finally gained access, they found a man on the brink of collapse. Through their professional intervention, his potassium level rose from 2.1 to 2.9 mmol/L—still below safe levels, but a clear demonstration of genuine medical progress. Episodes of nosebleeds, fainting, light-headedness, and swollen feet ceased. His headaches subsided to an occasional level.
“The DSS did not save Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s life. His personal physicians did. Their intervention, in the family’s view, prevented what had become an imminent risk of catastrophic medical deterioration.
“Instead of being commended for this intervention, these physicians are now being harassed, intimidated, and persecuted by the very agency whose medical management, according to the family, had left Mazi Kanu in a life-threatening condition”.
Kanu’s family accused DSS of lodging a complaint against Professor Aghaji with the MDCN, alleging “unethical practices” for adjusting medications which the independent medical team considered clinically necessary.
“This is the cruel irony: the DSS mismanaged his health to the point of near-death, and now seeks to punish the doctors who rescued him”.
The family demanded immediate cessation of all harassment, intimidation, and legal persecution of Professor Martin Aghaji, Dr. Charles Ndukwu, and every member of Kanu’s independent medical team.
It also wants the MDCN summons issued to Dr. Charles Ndukwu and suspension of all proceedings against Professor Aghaji stopped while calling for a full and transparent investigation into the alleged falsification of medical records during DSS custody.
The family equally demanded an official explanation from the DSS regarding the abduction and detention of Professor Aghaji, which it alleged occurred without legal authority, and after Mazi Kanu had left DSS custody.
It was also the family’s demand that MDCN should issue a public statement affirming that no doctor shall be penalised for providing independent, evidence-based medical care to any patient, regardless of custodial status.
“There should also be unrestricted and private access for Nnamdi Kanu to his chosen physicians under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Nigerian Correctional Service; and immediate assumption by the Nigerian Correctional Service of full legal responsibility for his healthcare in accordance with the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019 and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules)”, the statement added.