The National Judicial Council (NJC) has dismissed reports claiming that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been released and repatriated to Kenya.

In a statement issued Thursday in Abuja, NJC Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Ogedengbe, described the report as “false and a figment of the writer’s imagination.” The council clarified that the alleged release order, attributed to Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has no legal backing.

“The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to media reports that the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the Council, Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, has ordered the release of the detained Nnamdi Kanu and his repatriation to Kenya,” the statement read.

“The council wishes to state that the media report is false and a figment of the writer’s imagination, as there are no court proceedings, decisions, or judgments where such statements ascribed to His Lordship were made. The council categorically emphasizes that the Hon. CJN neither presided over any case involving Kanu at the apex court, where jurisdiction issues were argued, nor made any such pronouncement.”

The NJC further refuted claims that the CJN had written to the Kenyan Government or High Commission to apologize for Kanu’s arrest and trial, urging the public to disregard the misinformation.

Kanu remains in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) as he faces a seven-count terrorism charge brought against him by the Federal Government. His trial is set to continue on Friday, March 21, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.