The family of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has raised the alarm that an Abuja court has declined to issue a Production Warrant that would have enabled the Sokoto Correctional Facility to bring him to the Federal Capital Territory on Friday to perfect his appeal documents.
A spokesperson for the family and Kanu’s younger brother, Emma Kanu, disclosed in a phone conversation with our corespondent on Thursday morning, that the Abuja High Court had issued “a summons to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to appear on November 28 at the Federal High Court in Abuja for the settlement of records regarding the appeal he filed prior to the November 20 judgment.”
A production warrant is a mandatory order that authorises prison authorities to convey an inmate from detention to the courtroom.
According to Emma, “a production warrant is required for the Sokoto Prison to transport him (Nnamdi Kanu) to Abuja, but the Court declined to issue it.”
In a summons sighted, the Principal Registrar I, Federal High Court, Abuja, Ojonugwa Thomas, referred to Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2025 between Nnamdi Kanu and the Federal Government, summoning the parties “to settle record (in compliance with Order and Rule 2 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021).”
The summons stated that “all parties concerned are required to attend before me at the Appeal Section of the Federal High Court Headquarters, Plot 1048 (710) Cadastral Zone A100, Off Shehu Shagari Way, Central Business District, Abuja, on the 28th day of November 2025 at the hour of 11:00 a.m. to proceed with settlement of the Record of Appeal therein.”
The summons was also served on the DSS Detention Facility at the DSS National Headquarters, Abuja, and on the Federal Government through its counsel.
Emma Kanu, therefore, appealed to the judiciary to issue the Production Warrant to the Sokoto Correctional Facility to ensure that his brother, Kanu, is allowed to be in Abuja for the matter.
It has been reported that Kanu was handed a life imprisonment sentence following his conviction for alleged terrorism by an Abuja High Court on November 20 and was subsequently transferred to the Sokoto Correctional Facility.
The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, handed down the sentence on counts one, two, four, five, and six, opting for life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.
Omotosho also handed Kanu a 20-year jail term on count three, with no option of fine, and a five-year jail term on count seven, with no option of fine.
The seven counts against Kanu relate to his secessionist agitations, acts of terrorism, membership of a proscribed group, killing of security operatives, destruction of public property, concealment, and the importation of an unregistered radio transmitter.
