The passport of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu is still in Kenya, the Guardian, a United Kingdom-based newspaper has reported signaling that he was abducted against claims by the Federal government.
Kanu was allegedly arrested by Nigerian authorities in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria in an act of extraordinary rendition, his family and lawyers said.
Kanu, a British-Nigerian citizen, fled Nigeria in 2017 while on bail facing charges of terrorism and incitement.
He was re-arrested last month in Kenya and brought to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
Kanu was first charged in 2015, when Biafra secessionist mass protests erupted in Nigeria for the first time since the Biafra civil war. The conflict is one of the darkest chapters in Nigerian history and the bitter legacy still reverberates in Nigeria.
Kanu’s whereabouts had been unknown since he left Nigeria in 2017, after soldiers attacked his home in Abia state during one of a number of military operations against separatist agitators in the region.
His brother Kingsley Kanu told the Guardian that he had spoken to him while he was in Kenya, days before he went missing in June.
“I spoke to him on the phone, he was well, in Nairobi. His associates said he went out, he didn’t take his documents with him so he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Then all of a sudden we see him paraded in handcuffs in Abuja,” Kingsley Kanu said.
“It is an extraordinary rendition, aided by Kenyan authorities,” he said.
“It is an outrage that cannot be allowed to happen. We are holding the Nigerian government and Kenyan government responsible. The British government, they know what is happening,” he said, adding that UK officials had made contact with Kanu’s family and legal team and that there were concerns he would be abused in detention.
“I am concerned for his wellbeing because you know how they will treat him,” Kingsley said.
Lawyers for the Kanu family accused the Nigerian government of “state kidnapping” and said he was abducted by Nigerian officials in Kenya and taken to Nigeria against his will.
The Guardian said evidence before it shows that Kanu entered Kenya this year on his British passport on a visa expiring in June. His UK passport remains in Kenya.
The paper also quoted Kanu’s associates and family as saying he was not in possession of a Nigerian passport as he has verbally renounced Nigerian citizenship in broadcasts.
The abduction of a person from a foreign country with the aim of rendition to justice is illegal under international law.
Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General claimed on 29 June that Kanu had been extradited to Abuja, after cooperation between Nigerian intelligence services and Interpol.
“He has been brought back to Nigeria in order to continue facing trial after disappearing while on bail,”
Malami accused Kanu of “engaging in subversive activities” and of responsibility for rising armed attacks against police and civil authorities in south-east Nigeria that have been blamed on IPOB.
Last week, Kelechi Madu, the Minister of Justice and Solicitor-General of Albertia, Canada had in a statement said the government of Nigeria and Kenya broke major international law by abducting Kanu and moving him back to Nigeria.
“I urge the Nigerian government led by Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the safety of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra. I urge his immediate release.
“Reports suggest that Mazi Kanu was abducted in Kenya with the active collaboration of the Kenyan government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta. If true, Nigeria and Kenya violated international law and the rule of law that is supreme in their respective
countries.
“I call upon the international community, and in particular, United States Embassy in Nigeria; United Kingdom embassy in Nigerian Canadian, German and Israeli embassies and the European Union in Nigeria to use all their power, including diplomacy to ensure the safety and release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“I further call on the leaders of these nations to ensure real consequences for these arbitrary violations of internationally accepted democratic norms and rules that govern civilized people, but above all, the arbitrary violations of Mazi Kanu’s fundamental human rights.
“Nigeria is burning, and the people of Nigeria, except those who are holding the country down, wants out. You cannot destroy the hope and aspiration of a people destined for greatness, and expect them to bow down in servitude.
“You cannot destroy a generation of people and expect them to not fight for their freedom. The power of guns, state-sponsored terrorism will not achieve peace or the preservation of Nigeria.
“The Igbos and other ethnic groups in Nigeria who are calling for Nigeria to be renegotiated do not seek violence or war. They seek peace. They seek progress and the advancement of their people. They seek fairness, safety, equity and justice for their people. They seek the opportunity for their children to grow up and achieve their God-given abundant potential. They seek the rise of a people with the work ethic, intellect and capacity to be a truly global superpower on the continent of Africa. They seek dignity over inhumane treatment. They seek life over death.
“Friends of the black world must unite and liberate the people of Nigeria from this bondage and from the claws of corrupt and inept politicians who have no business being near the corridor of Nigeria’s political power.
“The Attorney General of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami is a disgrace to the rule of law, and not worthy to be an officer of the court. He has shown himself to be a bigot who does not understand what it means to live in a pluralistic society governed by the dictates of the rule of law.
“Finally, I must caution the present leaders of Nigeria to act in the best interests of the whole people of Nigeria. Since the inception of this government, and so far they have not been acting in all of Nigeria’s best interests”.
“I urge the Nigerian government led by Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the safety of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu – Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra. I urge his immediate release.
“Reports suggest that Mazi Kanu was abducted in Kenya with the active collaboration of the Kenyan government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta. If true, Nigeria and Kenya violated international law and the rule of law that is supreme in their respective countries.
“The Attorney General of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami is a disgrace to the rule of law, and not worthy to be an officer of the court. He has shown himself to be a bigot who does not understand what it means to live in a pluralistic society governed by the dictates of the rule of law,” he was quoted to have said via his LinkedIn page.
