Family raises alarm over ‘harassment’ of Nnamdi Kanu’s independent physicians by DSS, Medical Council

Nnamdi Kanu’s family has accused the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, of systematic harassment of the IPOB leader’s independent physicians.

The allegation was made in a statement issued by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, on behalf of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Okwu-Kanu Family of Umuahia, Abia State. A petition forwarded by Kanu to the Registrar of the MDCN, seeking urgent intervention over alleged harassment of his personal doctors, was attached to the statement.

“The Okwu-Kanu Family hereby issues this urgent press statement to expose the systematic harassment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s independent physicians by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN)—harassment that continues even though the core medical issues are sub judice and pending before the Court of Appeal,” the family said, noting that gbf DSS mismanaged Kanu’s health and now seeks to punish the physicians who intervened in the matter.

“While in DSS custody, Mazi Nnamdi 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,” the family said.

It added that Kanu’s health improved after the intervention of his personal physician, Emeritus Professor Dr. Martin Aghaji.

“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 statement noted.

The family cried out that instead of being commended, Kanu’s personal physicians are now being harassed, intimidated and persecuted by the very agency whose medical management left him in a life-threatening condition.

According to the family, the DSS lodged a complaint against Professor Aghaji with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, alleging “unethical practices” for adjusting medications which the independent medical team considered clinically necessary.

The family further noted that on September 26, 2025, the Abuja Federal High Court ordered the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, to constitute an investigative panel to examine Mazi Kanu’s health status. It alleged that a purported medical report dated prior to that order, which was not sanctioned by the NMA, has been relied upon in ways that misrepresented Kanu’s true condition.

The family stressed that the matter concerning the court-ordered medical examination of September 26, 2025 is before the Court of Appeal and is strictly sub judice. It explained that Kanu’s petition is to stop the continuing harassment of his physicians and to secure access to independent medical care under the exclusive custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Condemning the recent arrest of Kanu’s doctor, Aghaji, by the DSS, the family alleged that the physician was targeted for telling the truth about his patient’s condition and for intervening to prevent further deterioration.

In the same vein, the family disclosed that another member of Kanu’s medical team, Dr. Charles Ndukwu, has been summoned to appear before an Investigation Panel of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

“This is no longer an isolated action against one physician. It is a coordinated campaign, in the family’s view, to silence every doctor who documented the truth and provided the care the DSS failed to provide.

“The continuing harassment of Professor Aghaji and Dr. Ndukwu raises serious concerns that independent medical witnesses may be intimidated and that evidence relevant to the pending appeal may be compromised,” the statement added.

The family demanded an immediate cessation of all harassment, intimidation and legal persecution of Aghaji, Ndukwu and every member of Kanu’s independent medical team; withdrawal of the MDCN summons issued to Ndukwu and suspension of all proceedings against Aghaji.

The Kanu family also demanded a full and transparent investigation into the alleged falsification of medical records during Kanu’s stay in DSS custody, an official explanation from the DSS regarding the “abduction and detention of Professor Aghaji”, and a public statement from the MDCN affirming that no doctor shall be penalised for providing independent, evidence-based medical care to any patient, regardless of custodial status.

Other demands include unrestricted and private access for Kanu to his chosen physicians under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Nigerian Correctional Service; 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 family disclosed that copies of Kanu’s formal petition have been transmitted to the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and the State of Israel, as well as to relevant Nigerian institutions and international human-rights organisations.

The statement added, “The Okwu-Kanu Family calls on the Nigerian authorities to respect the principle of sub judice and to cease all extra-judicial harassment of medical practitioners who have simply discharged their professional duty.

“The targeting of physicians who documented the truth and intervened to prevent further deterioration is, in the family’s view, an assault on the integrity of the medical profession and on the rule of law itself.”