Nnamdi Kanu’s Brother Loses IPOB Leader’s Detention Case in the United Kingdom

On Thursday, the brother of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu lost a legal challenge against the British government over his continued detention in Nigeria.

Kingsley Kanu filed a judicial review of London’s alleged refusal to officially recognize Nnamdi Kanu as a victim of extraordinary rendition and unlawful detention.

Nnamdi Kanu, a dual British-Nigerian citizen, is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, which advocates for a separate state for the Igbo people in southeast Nigeria.

In October of last year, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled that he was kidnapped, ill-treated, and “illegally moved” from Kenya to Nigeria to face treason and terrorism charges.

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The criminal case was dismissed by the judges, but Nigerian prosecutors appealed, and Kanu, who is in his mid-50s, remains in custody.

In London, Judge Jonathan Swift denied Kingsley Kanu’s request that the UK Foreign Ministry rule on whether he was exceptionally rendered and order his release.

Swift rejected the brother’s claim that the foreign secretary had “acted irrationally” by not doing so, and said the minister had the authority to determine what was in the best interests of the UK diplomatically.

Nnamdi Kanu and his brother, Kingsley Kanu.

The Kanu family’s lawyers have argued that the case should prompt a rethinking of what official assistance is provided to British nationals detained abroad, particularly when there are allegations of human rights violations.

Kanu, a former London estate agent who also runs the outlawed Radio Biafra station, was first arrested in 2015 but jumped bail two years later, reappearing in the UK and Israel.

(TNT)