The Department of State Services (DSS) has confirmed the arrest and subsequent release of Dr. Martin Aghaji, the physician who examined detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu, insisting that the operation had nothing to do with Kanu or the separatist group.
Dr. Aghaji, a retired professor of medicine, was arrested at his residence in Enugu State on Friday before being released on administrative bail two days later.
The arrest initially sparked controversy after Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, alleged that the medical expert was targeted over an independent health report he prepared on the IPOB leader, which reportedly contradicted an earlier medical assessment conducted by the DSS.
“This is the height of the official harassment he has been facing since he issued the medical report that did not comport with the SSS’s medical report on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” Ejimakor wrote in a series of posts on his X account.
The lawyer further alleged that security operatives stormed Dr. Aghaji’s residence at about 3:00 a.m., forced their way into the premises after damaging the gate, fired gunshots during the operation and later transported him to Lagos.
However, reacting to the allegations on Monday, DSS spokesperson Favour Dozie dismissed claims that the arrest was linked to Kanu or the activities of IPOB.
“He was arrested, but not in connection with Nnamdi Kanu,” Dozie said.
While declining to provide further details because investigations are ongoing, the DSS spokesperson maintained that suggestions linking the arrest to the detained separatist leader were unfounded.
She also confirmed that Dr. Aghaji was granted administrative bail on Sunday after providing a suitable surety and was released into the custody of the leadership of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Lagos.
Earlier, Ejimakor had announced the doctor’s release, crediting the intervention of the Nigeria Medical Association and other professional bodies for securing his freedom.
Meanwhile, a senior DSS official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to address the media, disclosed that Dr. Aghaji’s arrest was connected to alleged financial transactions involving individuals described as high-profile criminal suspects currently under investigation.
According to the official, investigators confronted the medical expert with details of the transactions during interrogation and maintained that the investigation had no connection whatsoever with Nnamdi Kanu or IPOB.
The DSS has yet to release further details regarding the nature of the alleged financial transactions or the identities of the suspects involved, saying investigations are still ongoing.
