Nigerians protest in UK, demand deportation of Mele Kyari to Nigeria

Kyari

Nigerians protested at the Nigerian high commission in the UK and the Home Office, demanding the return of Mele Kyari, former group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, to Nigeria.

The demonstrators, under the auspices of Rescue Nigeria Now, assembled outside the Nigerian high commission and the UK Home Office in the UK, where they submitted formal petitions to both entities.

Protesters carried placards with bold inscriptions such as “Withdraw Mele Kyari’s residency now!”, “Mele Kyari go home and face EFCC now!”, and “London is not for public officials who abused public trust”.

The group accused Kyari of fleeing Nigeria to avoid accountability for alleged financial misconduct during his tenure at the NNPC from 2019 to 2025.

In a letter addressed to Sarafa Tunji Isola, the Nigerian high commissioner to the UK, the group described his presence in the UK without facing the consequences of his actions as “an affront to Nigerians” and “an insult to the esteemed anti-corruption crusade of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

“Your Excellency, this letter is not merely a petition—it is a demand— A moral, civic, and nationalistic demand. We, therefore, demand in the strongest terms that the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom refrains from according him any form of official reception, recognition, or diplomatic courtesy until he returns to Nigeria to submit himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant investigative bodies for the myriad allegations that trail his tenure,” they said.

“The coalition called upon the UK authorities to act in accordance with international anti-corruption agreements.