The United Nations has made “urgent appeals” to the Nigerian and Kenya governments to explain the “illegal arrest and extradition” of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, Newsmirrorng.com has learnt.
In the UN document, dated, August 26, obtained by SaharaReporters, the UN said the Nigerian and Kenyan governments should furnish it with details of how Kanu was arrested and illegally brought to Nigeria.
In a release sent to SaharaReporters, Nnamdi Kanu’s brother, Kingsley Kanu, said he, working with the lawyers, undertook the interventions to the United Nations, which required the details to be kept confidential for 60 days.
The release is titled, “‘Urgent Appeals’ in the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu against Nigeria and Kenya.”
Kingsley said, “Following the extraordinary rendition of my older brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I undertook a number of urgent steps within the realm of the international community, particularly in Britain and the United Nations. I worked quietly with my brother’s Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor and the Bindmans (my brother’s lawyers in Britain) on a host of muscular interventions aimed at presenting my brother’s case to the international community and facilitating his unconditional release and bringing the culprits of his illegal rendition to account.
“These interventions were not made known to the general public because the applicable rules, especially that of the United Nations, required them to be kept confidential for sixty days.
“Those 60 days just expired and the United Nations has therefore made public the details of its ‘Urgent Appeals’ to the Nigerian and Kenyan Governments, which were transmitted since 26th August, 2021. It also has made public an acknowledgment it received on 17th September, 2021 from the ‘Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the United Nations’.
“Both documents are attached to this Press Release. In particular, the said Urgent Appeals states in part that the United Nations is ‘alarmed by the alleged torture and ill-treatment Mr. Kanu has been subjected to during his illegal custody in Kenya. If confirmed, these allegations would constitute prima facie violations of fundamental human rights, including the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty, and the absolute and non-derogable prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment under the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (ICCPR)”.
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