The Department of State Services (DSS) has released Professor Martin Aghaji, the personal physician to detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, following his arrest in Enugu State.

The development was confirmed by Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, who disclosed through a post on X that the retired professor was taken into custody on Friday before regaining his freedom after interventions by medical bodies.

According to Ejimakor, Aghaji’s arrest was connected to a medical report he prepared on Kanu, which allegedly differed from an earlier medical assessment conducted by the DSS.

The lawyer described the incident as part of what he termed continued harassment of the physician.

“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 stated.

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In a subsequent update, Ejimakor alleged that security operatives arrived at Aghaji’s residence around 3:00 a.m., forcibly entered the premises and took him away.

He also claimed that gunshots were fired during the operation before the doctor was transported to Lagos.

The lawyer later confirmed that Aghaji had been released after the intervention of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and other concerned stakeholders.

“While welcoming this development, the SSS is hereby admonished to do better than this,” Ejimakor added.

However, the Department of State Services rejected claims that the arrest had any connection with Kanu or the Indigenous People of Biafra.

DSS spokesperson Favour Dozie confirmed that Aghaji was arrested in Enugu but insisted the operation was unrelated to the detained IPOB leader.

“He was arrested, but not in connection with Nnamdi Kanu,” she said.

According to the DSS, the doctor was granted administrative bail after providing a surety and was released into the custody of the leadership of the Nigeria Medical Association in Lagos.

A security official further explained that Aghaji’s arrest stemmed from investigations into financial transactions involving individuals suspected of high-profile criminal activities.

The official claimed that the retired professor cooperated with investigators after the transactions were brought to his attention.

“He was even sorry about it when he was informed of the transactions he made. The man himself felt very stupid,” the official said.

The incident has generated public attention following conflicting accounts from Kanu’s legal team and the DSS regarding the circumstances surrounding the doctor’s arrest, with both sides maintaining different explanations for the operation.