Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lawyer to leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), have said that there is no indication that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is in danger.

 

He said he would meet with Kanu on Thursday as directed by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

 

IPOB had expressed disappointment over the failure to produce Kanu in court.

 

Its’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, said producing Kanu was the only way to prove to IPOB members that he was still alive.

Kanu is facing charges of terrorism, treasonable felony, management of an unlawful society and illegal possession of firearms.

 

Ejiofor, in a post on his Facebook page, said he would update supporters on the outcome of his visit.

 

 

He wrote: “Given the fact that our client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was not produced in court yesterday (Monday), and serious safety concerns being entertained by all and sundry, and more especially in keeping in line with the subsisting court order made yesterday (Monday) that directed for specific visiting hours and days for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, may I respectfully put the world and millions of our supporters on notice that I will personally be visiting our client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on Thursday.

 

“I will keep the world updated on the outcome of the visit. Steps have been taken to notify the DSS (Department of State Services) of this impending visit. I will advise you all to stay glued to your clock on the above-mentioned date.

 

“The information available at our disposal, for now, has not suggested any danger to his life, but I shall say it to you exactly the way it is, upon the conclusion of the visit.”

 

UK complicit in Kanu’s abduction’ in Kenya – Lawyer, Ejiofor

The British government has a hand in the alleged ‘abduction’ of leader of the IPOB in Nairobi, Kenya, Ifeanyi Ejiofor has alleged.

 

Mr Ejiofor also accused the British Government and the British High Commission of not doing much to help Kanu despite being a British citizen.

 

Ejiofor wondered why the Commission has not visited Kanu since he was brought to Nigeria.

 

He noted that unlike Kanu’s 2015 arrest when the Commission was regularly visiting him while in detention, the British Commission is paying lip service to helping him this time around.

 

 

He said: “I can confirm to you that British high commission is not doing much about this case. I can confirm to you that there is every likely hood of connivance in what happened to my client.

 

“Because some times in 2015 when my client was arrested I know how they were keeping in constant communication with him and visiting him regularly both when he was in DSS custody and when he was transfered to prison.

 

“But as at yesterday a British national was arrested and till date they have not visited him even when we have officially notified them of the situation.

 

“As at the time he was arrested, he was arrested as a British national because he had renounced his Nigerian citizenship over 5 years ago. And they are still talking about offering him consular services”, he said

 

Ejiofor cautioned the media to stop describing the ordeal of his client in Kenya as an arrest arguing that it was a clear case of abduction, illegal imprisonment, torture and extraordinary rendition.

 

He said the manner he was taken and the manner Yoruba Activist, Sunday Igboho was arrested were completely different.

 

“At the time he was arrested, his associates in Nairobi started looking for him. They searched in all the Police stations and other law enforcement agencies and he was nowhere to be found.

 

“In the case of Sunday Igboho, he was arresteded in Benin Republic and taken to custody and is being subjected to trial. His arrest was announced but in the case of my client he was detained in an illegal facility for 8 days after which he was renditioned back to Nigeria,”he said

British Consulate offers Assistance

But on Tuesday, British High Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing, confirmed that the consulate has offered assistance to Kanu.

 

 

She spoke on Arise TV Morning Show.

 

Laing said: “We’re on record as saying we can offer consular assistance to British nationals and we have requested that consular access. That’s all I’m prepared to say.

 

“In this (Kanu’s) case, we have offered consular assistance to Nnamdi Kanu.”

 

Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ajimakor, indicated that he would contest the charge of treasonable felony against his client.

 

He said: “Since 1960, democratic Nigeria has had many treason trials without any – except for that of Obafemi Awolowo – netting a conviction or even coming close.

 

“No other person has ever been convicted of treason or its garden varieties like treasonable felony or sedition throughout all the democratic dispensations in Nigeria.

 

“Even when that of Awolowo resulted in a conviction, it immediately brought many issues that still remotely dog Nigeria to this day.”

 

Kanu drags Nigeria, Kenya to African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights

Moreover, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has dragged the Nigerian and Kenyan governments to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, to demand accountability for his extraordinary rendition.

 

Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, revealed this in a statement on his Facebook wall late Monday.

 

Ejimakor said jurisdiction lies with the Commission because Nigeria and Kenya are state parties to the African Charter.

 

It reads: “A few days ago, I commenced a continental legal action against Nigeria and Kenya before the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, demanding accountability for the extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

 

“Jurisdiction lies with the Commission because Nigeria and Kenya are State Parties to the African Charter; and Nigeria even took a step further to domesticate the Charter, thus making it part of her municipal laws.

 

“Both countries also have extradition laws that prohibit this sort of reprehensible conduct that saw Kanu to Nigeria.

 

“More particularly, extraordinary rendition is expressly prohibited under the African Charter, where It provides in pertinent part that “A State may not transfer (e.g. deport, expel, remove, extradite) an individual to the custody of another State unless it is prescribed by law and in accordance with due process and other international human rights obligations. Extraordinary rendition, or any other transfer, without due process is prohibited”.

 

 

“A victim of extraordinary rendition is entitled to remedies mandated by the Charter.

 

“Therefore, among many other reliefs, I requested that Kanu be restored to his state of being before the rendition, which state of being was that he travelled to Kenya on his British passport and was duly admitted as such and as a free man.

 

“Further, that no valid territorial jurisdiction can issue from an act of extraordinary rendition because Kanu is, technically speaking, still in Kenya.

 

“And that the Nigerian bench warrant standing against Kanu is, in the absence of any successful extradition proceedings in Kenya, invalid to arrest in Kenya.

 

“I also requested the Commission to adopt other urgent measures as the Commission sees fit in the circumstances to protect Nnamdi Kanu in the interim. A fact-finding visitation to Nigeria is also in reckoning.

 

“In my previous press briefings, I had said – with much confidence – that Kanu’s trial will be a trial within trial. To those who didn’t fully grasp what it meant, this extant continental legal action will give you a clue. And this is just the beginning.

 

 

“To be sure, any nation that dabbles in extraordinary rendition has unwittingly brought impediments to her territorial jurisdiction. So, Nigeria, whether it admits it or not, has triggered a hornets nest that has, for the first time, brought the international legal order to bear on the matter of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.” He added.