ICIR
Nnamdi Kanu’s special counsel Aloy Ejimakor said those who abducted the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) told him their sponsors claimed he was a Nigerian terrorist with a link to Al-Shabab, Kenya Islamic terrorists.
“The people that abducted him said that they were told by their sponsors that Kanu was a Nigerian terrorist linked to the Islamic terrorists in Kenya, presumably Al-Shabab,” Ejimakor was quoted by Premium Times to have said after a three-hour meeting with the IPOB leader in the detention facility of the State Security Service (SSS) on Wednesday.
“But after several days when they discovered his true identity, they tended to treat him less badly. Despite that, they told him they felt committed to hand him over to those that hired them,” Ejimakor added.
While stating that Kanu was arrested at the behest of the Nigerian government, Ejimakor said that Kanu was blindfolded, tortured and subjected to inhuman conditions before being driven to the Jomo Kenyatta where he was flown to Nigeria.
“Kanu was in point of fact tortured and subjected to untold cruel and inhuman treatment in Kenya. He said his abductors disclosed to him that they abducted him at the behest of Nigerian government,” the lawyer said.
“He was blindfolded and driven to the tarmac very close to the plane without passing through the airport immigration. The plane departed Nairobi at about 12 p.m. and arrived Abuja in the evening.
“Kanu was flown to Abuja in the private jet on Sunday, June 27, 2021, from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi and that he was the lone passenger.”
Ejimakor said although the Nigerian government had added new allegations to existing ones by which Kanu was standing trial, the IPOB leader was in high spirits despite all he had gone through.
“The interview was revealing as it contained certain new allegations that were never heard of before. But all the questions relate directly or indirectly to his status as the leader of IPOB.
“I observed that despite what he has passed through, he was in high spirits and looked forward to overcoming the extraordinary rendition that brought him to Nigeria,” the lawyer said.
The Nigerian government, through the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, claimed Kanu was extradited two days before he was brought before an Abuja Federal High Court on Tuesday, June 29.
Kanu faces an 11-count charge of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism, and illegal possession of firearms.
Kanu jumped bail and fled Nigeria after soldiers raided his residence in Umuahia, Abia State, in 2017.
Ejimakor, however, noted before the court could find Kanu guilty of jumping his bail, it had to, first, look at the conditions and premises that made him leave the country.
“In my assessment of how the case now stands, I wager that before any court can subject Kanu to trial for any offenses, it has to first conduct a trial within trial on the grievous incident that forced him to leave Nigeria and the equally grievous incident that forced him back to Nigeria.
“No court of law, conscience and equity will overlook those two supervening incidents and proceed to trial,” Ejimakor said.
This news originally appeared in ICIR.
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