Few Hours After Sister’s Warning On Tinubu’s Plan to Murder Her Brothers, Nnamdi Kanu is Reportedly Attacked in DSS Custody, Sparks Outrage

Abuja, Nigeria – October 26, 2025

A report that a Department of State Services (DSS) operative attacked Mazi Nnamdi Kanu inside DSS custody has sent fresh shockwaves through Nigeria’s already fraught political landscape, representing a dangerous escalation by the state against an already high-profile detainee whose case has drawn global attention for years.

The attack was reported to have occurred a few hours after Princess Kanu, sounded a chilling alarm during a Facebook Live broadcast from the Kuje Magistrate Court on Friday. In the video, hosted by Lolo Nneka Nwakuma, she exposed that President Bola Tinubu “has plans to murder my brothers,” warning that their lives were in imminent danger.

According to a statement released on Social Media by Mazi Chinasa Nworu, a high-ranking member of the Directorate of States (DOS) of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), information received by the group  on Saturday, October 25, 2025, reported that “one of the new DSS agents assigned to Mazi Kanu attacked him in the DSS headquarters with the intention to kill Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.” IPOB said other DSS officers eventually dragged the assailant from Kanu’s cell.

The statement warned that the reported attack appeared to be being framed by the state as a “misunderstanding with a DSS officer” while accusing elements opposed to Kanu’s release of plotting to assassinate him inside the agency.

Kanu’s ordeal has once again highlighted Nigeria’s deepening crisis of governance, where court orders are routinely flouted, and dissenting voices are silenced through extrajudicial means. His ongoing detention continues despite multiple court rulings, including those of the Court of Appeal, that discharged and acquitted him.

Kanu’s case has become a flashpoint. On Friday, October 24, the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned his terrorism trial after he said he could not open his defence because he had no access to his case file following the withdrawal of his legal team, emanating from his decision to defend himself.

Justice James Omotosho adjourned proceedings. The adjournment and the broader judicial confrontation have intensified scrutiny of how security agencies handle the IPOB leader.

Human rights advocates have called for an independent and transparent investigation into the alleged assault, with renewed demands for Kanu’s immediate release or transfer to a neutral custodial facility. “The state has a constitutional obligation to investigate swiftly and publish its findings,” a leading civil rights lawyer told this newspaper. “Failure to do so will only deepen suspicions that the security services are being used to settle political scores.”

Prominent activist Omoyele Sowore, who has earlier warned that the state wants to “sacrifice” Kanu as it did in the controversial detention and death of MKO Abiola, was arrested on Thursday for organizing the October 20 peaceful protest, deepening and confirming fears that his warnings were not far-fetched. This has further prompted calls for urgent international attention to Kanu’s matter.

At the time of filing this report, neither the DSS nor the Presidency had issued a public statement directly addressing the specific allegation of an assault inside DSS custody.

An attack on a detainee under state custody raises several urgent legal and political questions: whether custody protocols were breached; whether there was complicity or an attempt to conceal the incident; and whether existing mechanisms for detainee protection are fit for purpose.

For many Nigerians, the episode is not seen in isolation but as part of a pattern of intolerance to dissent and politicisation of the security services. The timing, coming on the heels of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s shocking big moves where he named 23 high-profile figures as witnesses, including current FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, believed to have amongst others orchestrated his kidnap from Kenya.

A formal response from the DSS and from the Office of the President detailing what happened, and who is responsible for the attack is expected, as well as an Independent medical and custodial records showing Kanu’s condition after the alleged incident.

It is expected that the court moves to summon DSS officials and order a custody change to protect the detainee’s life and right to a fair trial is expected.

Human rights organizations and foreign missions, particularly the British High Commission in Nigeria, are now under pressure to respond, given that Kanu holds British citizenship.

The allegation that a state security operative assaulted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, particularly following public warnings by his family about threats to his life allegedly linked to the presidency, raises serious concerns about due process and human rights in Nigeria.

Such an incident does not only undermine the credibility of the judiciary (since Kanu is under the court’s custody, not the DSS’s discretion) but also fuel perceptions that the state is intent on silencing him outside the law permanently.

Until a fully independent and transparent inquiry is opened and its findings published, the episode will harden perceptions that the instruments of state power are being used not only to detain but possibly to intimidate or eliminate political opponents.

Tinubu has plans to murder my brothers, Princess Kanu, Nnamdi Kanu’s younger sister cries out