UK asks Nigeria to explain how IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and extradited

The United Kingdom has asked the Nigerian government to explain the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)

According to Reuters, Tariq Ahmad, junior minister at Britain’s foreign office, says the UK wants Nigeria to explain how Kanu was arrested.

“We are seeking clarification from the Nigerian government about the circumstances of the arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu,” he said.

Ahmad also said Britain had requested consular access to Kanu and stands ready to provide consular assistance.

Kanu, who has been campaigning for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra, was first arrested on October 14, 2015.

He was granted bail in April 2017 but later fled Nigeria after soldiers invaded his residence in Abia state during a military clampdown on IPOB members.

Kanu, who holds British citizenship, was mostly in the UK after he fled Nigeria. But he was arrested in June and extradited to Nigeria to face trial for treasonable felony.

Although the federal government did not state where Kanu was arrested, Kingsley Kanu, Kanu’s brother alleged that the IPOB leader was arrested in Kenya and handed over to Nigerian authorities who then brought him back to Nigeria.

The Kenya government, however, denied that Kanu was arrested and extradited from the country to Nigeria.