Nnamdi Kanu is escorted to trial for treason in Abuja in 2016. Photo: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP
The government has abandoned a British-Nigerian political activist who campaigned for the independence of his homeland after he was captured and tortured by security forces, his supporters say.
Nnamdi Kanu is several years old operated a radio station from his south London home, but was held in solitary confinement for two years by Nigerian security forces who captured the activist in Kenya and smuggled him back into the country.
His family says he is being held in a small, windowless cell, despite the Nigerian Court of Appeal clearing all charges against him and ruling that his arrest and extradition were illegal. The United Nations also called for his immediate release.
His lawyers accuse the UK government of doing too little to secure his release and fail to denounce his mistreatment even though he was traveling on a British passport when captured. They also fear that his life could be in danger in prison.
“This is a serious matter and we expected the British government to actively and actively respond to it,” says Ifeani Ejiofor, one of Mr. – to Cana. team, told The Telegraph.
“The UK government has done little. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has not yet been able to come to an opinion.”
Mr Kanu is the leader of the Biafra indigenous group and for years ran Radio Biafra from his apartment in Peckham, calling for the region's independence. in southeastern Nigeria.
Mr Kanu pictured in 2017. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images
The region briefly seceded in the late 1960s, leading to civil war and the deaths of at least a million people before the breakaway region was blockaded and starved to capitulation.
Although he is popular with many Biafrans for calling for a referendum. Since independence, Mr. Kanu has been divisive, with some in the Nigerian government seeing him as a potentially dangerous mob instigator who raises the specter of renewed civil unrest. His group is banned in Nigeria as a terrorist organization.
Mr. Kanu previously spent two years in prison and fled Nigeria while on bail. In June 2021, he was in Nairobi when his family and supporters said he was kidnapped and tortured by the Nigerian and Kenyan authorities.
After several days of beatings, he was put on a small plane back to Nigeria. and charged with crimes including terrorism and treason.
Last year, an appeals court dropped the charges and demanded his release, saying he had been extradited without proper extradition. But he remains in security custody pending an appeal to the Supreme Court in September.
His family earlier this year described the Foreign Office's handling of the case as “a catalog of disappointing setbacks that left the Nigerian Government's stance virtually unchanged and Mr Kanu's wife and children, all British citizens, unsupported.” his government.”
The supreme court is expected to side with Mr. Kanu, but his legal team warns that his health has deteriorated. deteriorated and claim to be in danger while in custody.
“Anything can happen”
Earlier this year, Mr. Kanu's family told MPs that he was being held in a filthy, windowless cell measuring six feet by six.
He has not been allowed to change since. he was captured and is given soup and bread once a day.
He has a heart problem and needs treatment for an ear injury, according to his lawyers, which he received under torture. The Nigerian authorities are refusing to allow Kan's doctors to treat him, and his lawyers say his life could be in danger if he is forced to undergo medical treatment.
Mr Ejiofor said: “I am 100% I am sure that if he was forced to undergo medical procedures in custody, then anything could happen, given the history of how he was abducted, how he was extradited extraordinarily, how he was tortured.”
Ministry official Foreign Affairs said: “We continue to provide consular support to Mr. Kan and maintain regular contact with his family and legal representatives, as well as with the authorities of Nigeria and Kenya.”
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