Nnamdi Kanu wins landmark legal case as court rules that his abduction in Kenya was illegal

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu won a significant legal battle against the federal government today after an Umuahia high court ruled that the way he was extradited from Kenya was illegal and breached his human rights.

Highly controversial, Mr Kanu has been campaigning for the recreation of the independent republic of Biafra which broke away from Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970 during the civil war. His campaign, which has led to the phenomenal growth of Ipob, has set him at odds with the Nigerian government who him arrested and put on trial for treason.

While the case was still pending, Mr Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds but skipped his bail after flouting the conditions given to him by the court and fled Nigeria. However, in a dramatic development in June last year, Mr Kanu was abducted in Kenya and flown to Nigeria, where he was handed over to the State Security Service.

Mr Kanu subsequently filed a lawsuit challenging his arrest and ruling on the matter today, a federal high court in Umuahia, Abia State, has ruled that his extraordinary rendition breached his fundamental rights. In addition, the court ruled that Mr Kanu be restored to the state he was in before he was arrested in June 2021.

Aloy Ejimakor, Mr Kanu's lawyer, tweeted: “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wins at Federal High Court, Umuahia. Court ruled that the extraordinary rendition is a violation of his fundamental rights. All seven prayers sought from the court granted, including restoring him to his state of being as of 19th June, 2021 and halting his prosecution.”

Nigeria's federal government had lost its bid to transfer the suit of the extraordinary rendition to Abuja from Umuahia as the court insisted that it has the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit. Ipob will not be asking that among other things, Mr Kanu be returned to Kenya, where he was abducted, or to the UK, his country of abode.