Biafra: IPOB Granted permission to Challenge UK Govt Silence Over Extraordinary Rendition of Kanu

 Biafra: IPOB Granted permission to Challenge UK Govt Silence Over Extraordinary Rendition of Kanu

Nnamdi Kanu

More than a year after the extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria, a competent court in United Kingdom(UK) grants permission to the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra(IPOB) to apply for judicial review of the UK government’s failure to intervene in the violation done to his rights, being a British citizen.

According to a court document released by Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, the case was filed before the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, by Kingsley Kanu, brother to the IPOB leader, where as Kingsley Kanu is the Claimant, and the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs is the Defendant.

As contained in the order made by Honourable Justice Mrs Ellenbogen DBE, the court held that “The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted”. It further stated that, “The application is to be listed for one day, at an in-person hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice. The parties are to provide a written time estimate within 7 days of service of this order if they disagree with this direction”.

Recall that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen with a British passport was, in the month of June, 2021, abducted by Kenyan agents acting on behalf of Nigerian government, tortured and illegally brought to Nigeria in utmost violation of international law. Kanu is since held in the dungeon of Nigeria’s lawless Department of State Security(DSS).

Whereas extraordinary rendition is a serious international crime, the British government in what has been described as the most heinous display of racism, has chosen not to intervene on behalf of Nnamdi Kanu, a citizen of color. 

It quite a shame that Dominic Raab, the former Secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office(FCDO), played the ostrich. His successor and the current British prime minister, Liz Truss, followed same ignoble legacy. However, with this legal relief, one hopes the injustice done to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will finally be redressed soonest.

Onyemachi Gabriel, reporting

For Family Writers Press International