In a notice dated October 18, 2024, and signed by the registrar, the court threatened to put the DSS chief in jail if he persisted in defying court orders by preventing Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who was jailed, from seeing his attorneys.

Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, the director general of the Department of State Services (DSS), was served with a “notice of consequences” by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday for contempt of court.

In a notice dated October 18, 2024, and signed by the registrar, the court threatened to put the DSS chief in jail if he persisted in defying court orders by preventing Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who was jailed, from seeing his attorneys.

“TAKE NOTICE that you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison unless you obey the directions contained in this Order (see overleaf) – by allowing the Applicant’s Counsel to conduct the Court-ordered visitations with the Applicant on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” the notice stated.

Kanu’s Special Counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, confirmed the development and stated that the DSS’s persistent defiance of the court-mandated three-day-per-week visiting schedule for Kanu by his attorneys was the reason for the notice that the court issued.

Ejimakor stated that the IPOB leader’s legal team will be forced to start aggressive contempt proceedings if DSS Director Ajayi continues to refuse them access to Kanu after receiving notice from the court.

The court-ordered visitation of Mazi Kanu has been repeatedly disregarded by the newly appointed Director-General of the State Security Services, Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, who has been preventing Mazi Kanu’s lawyers from seeing him for about a month, according to Ejimakor. This has made the notice necessary.

To be clear, this Notice is a quasi-criminal legal procedure that alerts anybody defying a court order to the potential legal repercussions of their actions.

“Therefore, we will be forced to file serious charges of contempt against the Director-General of DSS if he continues down this despicable path.”

Remember that on May 20, 2024, Justice Binta Nyako issued a ruling changing Kanu’s visiting restrictions in the DSS custody to three days per week.

In order to prepare for his defence, the defendant must have access to a secure and “clean” room at the current facility, with a team of no more than five attorneys. This is what the court ordered.

“That they should be permitted to take notes and be granted the necessary space to prepare for his defence.”

But Kanu’s legal team has often expressed concern that the DSS has shifted from surreptitiously recording their talks with Kanu to shutting them out totally, making it hard for them to be ready for Kanu’s defence.