Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer seeks British assistance for detained IPOB leader

 Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer seeks British assistance for detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu Nnamdi Kanu‘s lawyer has requested British government’s ...

 Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer seeks British assistance for detained IPOB leader

Nnamdi Kanu

Nnamdi Kanu‘s lawyer has requested British government’s assistance for the release of Nnamdi Kanu the leader of Indeigniuous people of Biafra who was recently “abducted” abroad and brought back to Nigeria illegally.

Mr Kanu, who is currently detained by Nigeria’s secret police, the SSS, on the order of the court, is accused by the Nigerian authorities of treason, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms

IPOB, the pro-Biafra group which he leads, had been proscribed by the Nigerian government.

His lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, in a letter to the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Catriona Laing, requested that Mr Kanu, whom he said was seized in Kenya, “be granted every possible Consular assistance to which he is entitled as a British citizen”.

The letter is dated June 30.

Mr Ejimakor also wants the British government to demand that his lawyers and doctors be allowed to have access to him while in detention, as well as his unconditional release.

The IPOB leader holds dual citizenship, Nigeria and the UK.

Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group, had escaped bail when his home residence was raided by Nigeria military while facing trial in 2017. Report had it that 28 of his followers were killed in his residence by Nigeria military, until he was brought to court in handcuffs in Abuja on Tuesday his whereabouts were not publicly known.

Mr Kanu “was intercepted in Kenya by Nigeria’s foreign security agents and brought to Nigeria against his will on or about June 27,” his lawyer said.

“Mr Kanu is a British citizen who was traveling on a valid British passport when he was seized in a third country and forcibly brought to Nigeria. Such act constitutes an unlawful rendition of a bonafide British citizen.

“He was not traveling on Nigerian passport or the passport of any other country, including that of Kenya.

“There is no extant Order of extradition by any British Court or any other foreign Court (including Kenya) and we are informed that there is no pending extradition proceedings standing against him in Britain or Kenya.

“There is no deportation Order by any Kenyan Court or other authority that made him subject to deportation.

“But if there was, the country of his deportation should have been Britain on which passport he was travelling. Deporting him to Nigeria just because he was born in Nigeria, but not traveling on her passport, is unlawful under international law,” Mr Ejimakor said in the letter to the British High Commissioner.

The lawyer said Mr Kanu’s agitation for the independent state of Biafra “through a referendum” is considered a “protected political opinion” under British and Nigerian laws.

“Mr Kanu (should) be categorised as a high profile political prisoner or a prisoner of conscience and be thus rendered the highest diplomatic protection under municipal and international laws,” he said.

The British High Commissioner, Ms Laing, on Thursday held talks with Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, on a number of issues.

Originally published by Premium Times

Edited by Family Writers Press International.