Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu has filed legal action against Kenya over his extradition to Nigeria.
His brother Kingsley Kanu filed the suit on his behalf, arguing that Mr Kanu’s arrest in Kenya and subsequent extradition to Nigeria in June were unconstitutional.
Listed as respondents in the suit are Kenya’s interior CS, director of immigration, director of criminal investigations, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, and the country’s attorney general.
Kanu’s family has maintained that Kenya colluded with Nigeria to extradite the IPOB leader illegally, an allegation Kenya denies. Nigerian officials too have been silent on the country where Kanu was arrested and extradited from.
According to the suit, Kanu was in Kenya to seek medical attention for a heart challenge and for “Indigenous People of Biafra-related work”.
Court papers revealed that the IPOB leader arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in May from Kigali, Rwanda, on an East African tourist visa.
“The subject is believed to have been apprehended at the airport on June 19, 2021, and unlawfully detained for several days after which he was illegally and stealthily extradited to Nigeria without his British passport in utter-non-compliance with laid down processes of laws in Kenya,” the petition added.
It argued that Kanu’s extradition from Nairobi to Abuja in June violated the Extradition (Contiguous and Foreign Countries) Act Chapter 76 of the laws of Kenya.
Among other prayers, Kanu asked the court to declare his extradition “a violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms to equal protection of the law, human dignity, freedom and security, freedom of movement, fair administrative action, access to justice, the right to be represented in court and a fair hearing as guaranteed in the Constitution of Kenya.”
