A judge has permitted a Nigerian separatist detained on treason charges to watch matches of his favorite team, Liverpool, on television.
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) organization, disputes the claims.
He has been in detention since last year and does not have access to live football matches.
Mr Kanu may now see the end of a potentially historic season thanks to the judge, who is himself a Liverpool supporter.
Liverpool are just two matches away from winning the English Premier League and the European Champions League, having already won the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.
Surprisingly, Mr Kanu’s fortunes changed not at his request, but rather as a result of the finding that Mr Kanu, his lawyer, and the judge were all Liverpool fans.
On Wednesday, he appeared in court for a hearing on a bail application filed after his detention last year for pushing for the independence of Biafra, a region of Nigeria in the south-east.
The bail application was denied, but Justice Binta Nyako complained that Mr Kanu had disregarded a previous order to avoid appearing in court wearing clothes from the Italian luxury brand Fendi when he had other options during the talks about whether he should be given bail.
She could have been referring to a tweet in which Mr Kanu was photographed wearing an Atletico Madrid tracksuit during a visit by Anambra state governor Charles Soludo.
