Kanu loses appeal to have UK intervene in his case with Nigerian govt

Detained leader of proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has lost an appeal he filed against the United Kingdom government regarding his detention in Nigeria.

The IPOB leader who holds both British and Nigerian citizenship, had filed an appeal in London last year seeking the British government’s intervention in his case with the Nigerian government.

Kanu who was arrested in Kenya in June 2021, has been detained at the facility of the Department of State Service (DSS) since his extradition and filed the case seeking the intervention of the UK in the matter.

In his appeal filed with the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, Royal Courts of Justice, in London in March, Kanu had asked the court to obtain an order compelling the Nigerian government to take a stand and publicly condemn his detention.

Read also: Court dismisses Kanu’s suit against DSS

In the lawsuit, Kanu had also sued the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), as the representative of the UK government in London.

But in a ruling on Wednesday, the court dismissed the case, stating that it could not interfere in the UK government’s decision concerning the IPOB leader’s detention and conditions in Nigeria.

The three-member panel said it could not force the Foreign Secretary to take a firm position on the matter while the Nigerian government’s case against Kanu was still pending at Nigeria’s Supreme Court.

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