Lawyers give Nigeria 48 hours ultimatum to release Kanu, threaten to sue Kenyan government

A coalition of Igbo-British lawyers has challenged the part played by the Kenyan government in the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu, who was arrested last weekend, was arraigned for alleged treasonable felony at the Federal High Court, Abuja, Tuesday.

At a media briefing in Glasgow, Scotland, the lawyers threatened to sue the Kenyan government over what they described as an illegal arrest of the IPOB leader.

They also gave the Nigerian government a 48 hours ultimatum to release Kanu and facilitate his return to Britain.

Attorney E.R. Okoroafor, who spoke on behalf of the group, said the separatist leader entered Kenya with a British passport, adding such was sufficient to stop him from being arrested.

He described Kanu’s arrest as “illegal and archaic.”

According to him, the Kenyan government played a major role “in the arrest of Kanu and his subsequent handover to the Nigerian government without any due process.”

READ ALSO: Kanu’s brother claims IPOB leader was arrested in Kenya, demands British govt’s intervention

Okoroafor said: “Kanu entered Kenya with his British passport, and the Kenya government is fully aware of his citizenship status but still went ahead to perpetrate 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.”

“We shall be heading to the International Criminal Court to rectify the injustice done as it is trite law that injustice to one is an 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.

“Failure to do so, we shall not hesitate to term this a declaration of war on not only on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB but also on all Igbo generally, and this we shall vehemently resist with all apparatus of law available at our disposal.

“No bodily harm whatsoever must be done to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to avoid a total breakdown of law and others in the fast crumbling entity called Nigeria.”

Ridwan Adelaja

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