A group of Igbo lawyers resident in the United Kingdom has condemned the illegal arrest and detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement on Wednesday signed by Barrister Ebuka Okoroafor, the legal practitioners under the auspices of the Coalition of Igbo-British Lawyers also condemned the Kenyan Government for arresting Kanu, who is also a British citizen, and handing him over to the Nigerian government.
They accused the Kenyan government of violating 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 group said.
“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 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.”
The group vowed to drag the Kenyan government before the International Criminal Court (ICC), in Hague, The Netherlands, over its illegal action.
The Igbo lawyers also asked the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to convey Kanu back to the United Kingdom before the expiration of 48 hours.
“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.
