British lawyers of Igbo descent have issued a communique in which they gave the Nigerian government of Muhammadu Buhari an ultimatum to return the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu back to the United Kingdom where he is a citizen.
The group also berated the Kenyan government for their involvement and collaboration with the Nigerian government to arrest Nnamdi Kanu who was a legitimate visitor to the country. The group said the arrest was an illegal scheme that preyed on Nnamdi Kanu’s vulnerabilities as a visitor to the country.
According to the Igbo British lawyers, the Kenyan government has violated the human rights of Kanu, who possesses both Nigerian and British passports
A group of Igbo lawyers resident in the United Kingdom has described as illegal the arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu by the Nigerian government. The legal practitioners under the auspices of the Coalition of Igbo-British Lawyers condemned the Kenyan Government for arresting the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, who is also a British citizen and handing him over to the Nigerian government. The group revealed this in a statement signed by Barrister Ebuka Okoroafor and made available to SaharaReporters on Wednesday.
According to the lawyers, the Kenyan government has violated the human rights of Kanu, who possesses both Nigerian and British passports. “Coalition of Igbo-British lawyers condemns the illegal detention and subsequent handing over of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to the Nigerian government by the Kenyan Government.
“The Coalition of Igbo-British lawyers in a statement issued and signed by Attorney E.R Okoroafor on the 30th of June, 2021 at his Glasgow residence in the United Kingdom has condemned the illegal and archaic manner in which the Kenyan Government has acted in the illegal detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. “It also condemned the subsequent handing him over to the Nigerian Government without any due process.
“It is worthy of note to mention that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu entered Kenya with his British passport, and the Kenyan government is fully aware of his citizenship status but still went ahead to perpetuate their illegal act which does not only breach the personal human rights of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu but also undermine the sovereignty of the British government,” the statement read in part.
The group also disclosed that the illegal action will be addressed at the International Criminal Court, in Hague, The Netherlands, while asking the Nigerian government to convey Kanu back to the United Kingdom before the expiration of 48 hours. The Igbo British lawyers also stated that the failure of the Nigerian government to do so has declared war on Kanu, IPOB, and the entire Igbos.
“While this serves as a pre-action notice to the Kenyan Government as we shall be heading to the International Criminal Court to rectify the injustice done as it is trite law that injustice to one is injustice to all, we are also by this medium informing the Nigerian Government that they have 48 hours to return Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to the United Kingdom.
“And if he has any charges to answer to, they should as a nation that is governed by the constitution, pass through the legal means of filing an extradition notice as failure to do so, we shall not hesitate to term this a declaration of war on not only Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB but all Igbos generally, and this we shall vehemently resist with all apparatus of law available at our disposal.
“While all this is being done, the Nigerian government is also being warned that no bodily harm whatsoever must be done to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to avoid a total breakdown of law and order in the fast crumbling entity called Nigeria,” the Igbo–British lawyers added in the statement.
