IPOB knocks UK govt over silence on continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu

Kanu

THE Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has berated the United Kingdom for its alleged complicity in the alleged illegal rendition and detention of its leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

IPOB in a statement by its Spokesman / Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful titled, “United Kingdoms complicity in Nigeria’s illegal rendition and detention of British citizen Mazi Nnamdi Kanu: A judicial and moral indictment” decried the continued silence and what it called apparent complicity of United Kingdom government in the face of violation of Kanu’s right.

The pro-Biafra group which described Mazi Kanu’s rendition as flagrant breach of Section 15 of Nigeria’s Extradition Act,
Article 12(4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and
Articles 9 and 14 of the ICCPR, to which both Nigeria and the UK are state parties.

IPOB’s statement read, “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) decries the continued silence and apparent complicity of the United Kingdom Government in the face of Nigeria’s gross and well-documented violations of international law, domestic law, and judicial precedent against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen and freedom advocate.”

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was abducted in Kenya in June 2021 in a state-sponsored criminal act of extraordinary rendition and forcibly returned to Nigeria without any extradition proceedings, a flagrant breach of Section 15 of Nigeria’s Extradition Act,
Article 12(4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and
Articles 9 and 14 of the ICCPR, to which both Nigeria and the UK are state parties.

“What makes the UK’s silence especially appalling is that this is not an abstract diplomatic disagreement, but a matter in which the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Opinion No. 25/2022) unequivocally declared Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s detention illegal, and ordered his immediate release and compensation.

“The Kenyan High Court ruled that his abduction on Kenyan soil was unconstitutional, and awarded damages for Kenya’s complicity. The Nigerian Court of Appeal (October 2022) held that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s extraordinary rendition constituted a fundamental violation of Nigerian law, effectively nullifying the proceedings against him.