A law firm, Adulbert Legal Services in Abuja, has solicited the assistance of the British High Commission in Nigeria to grant the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (lPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, consular assistance as a British citizen, “who was illegally abducted in another country.”
The letter dated June 30, 2021, and signed by Aloy Ejimakor, the counsel to Kanu, titled: ‘Urgent request for consular assistance to Okwu-Kanu Nwannekaenyi Nnamdi Kenny (A British citizen)’, urged the British High Commissioner in Nigeria to intervene, as such abduction contravenes the international convention on extradition of a citizen.
In the letter, the law firm said: “We are solicitors to the above-named British citizen, on whose behalf and instruction we write this letter to request an urgent consular assistance to him. Mr. Okwu-Kanu (aka Nnamdi Kanu) is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the director of Radio Biafra, both of which are corporate citizens of the United Kingdom.
“Kanu resides in the United Kingdom, from which soil he departed on an overseas travel on or about June 19, 2021, with a British passport No: 556543086 (copy of biographic page attached herewith). We are reliably informed that while he was on the said overseas travel, he was intercepted in Kenya by Nigeria’s foreign security agents and brought to Nigeria against his will on or about June 27, 2021, and ‘arraigned’ before the Federal High Court in Abuja without benefit of counsel on June 29, 2021.
“Currently, he is being detained in the custody of the Directorate of State Security Services (DSS) in Abuja.
“Your Excellency, permit us to point to a few legal, political and diplomatic issues that have been implicated in this matter. They are: 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 detention 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 its passport, is unlawful under international law.
“The enterprise upon which Kanu is engaged, which is: seeking the restoration of the defunct State of Biafra through a referendum is a protected political opinion (i.e. self-determination) under British and Nigerian laws, where it is enacted at CAP A9, Article 20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
The firm stated further: “In our view, the manner of his interception and forcible deportation to Nigeria is extra-legal and does not comport with the pertinent international laws and treaties to which Nigeria is subject.
“On the basis of the foregoing, we hereby make the following prayers: that Kanu be granted every possible consular assistance to which he is entitled to as a British citizen.
“That Kanu 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.
“That the Nigerian authorities be prevailed upon to immediately allow access to Kanu by his lawyers, doctors and family members.
“That the Nigerian authorities be prevailed upon to immediately avail Kanu the opportunity of being taken to any hospital of his choice for medical examination.
“That the British authorities file a diplomatic note or other legal process with Federal High Court and the Office of the Attorney-General of Nigeria indicating its (British) sovereign interest in Kanu’s matter.
“That the British authorities declare that Kanu is not a criminal but a person who possesses a political opinion the Nigerian authorities are seeking to suppress by means of punishment of some sort, and the British authorities should urgently demand the unconditional release of Kanu from detention.”
However, the Kanu’s counsel believes that the British High Commission in Nigeria would do the needful to protect its citizen in line with international treaty of deportation which Nigeria is equally a signatory.
