A High Court in Nairobi, Kenya declared that arrest and rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to Nigeria as illegal.
In a landmark judgement, the judge held that the abduction and detention of Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, in Kenya and his subsequent rendition to Nigeria in June 2021 were unlawful and illegal.
The judgement was delivered by Justice E.C. Mwita.
He held that the actions of both the Kenyan and Nigerian governments amounted to gross violations of Kanu’s fundamental human rights as protected by their respective constitutions.
The IPOB had consistently declared that the ongoing trial of Kanu on terrorism charges would amount to nothing owing to the manner of his rendition to Nigeria.
In the judgement by the Kenyan court, it also awarded Kanu 10 million Kenyan shillings in compensatory damages against the Kenyan government for its role in the unlawful abduction and rendition.
Justice E.C. Mwita said, “Having considered the pleadings and arguments by parties, the decisions relied on, the Constitution and the law, I come to the following conclusions:
“First, the government of Kenya violated the Constitution and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu’s rights and fundamental freedoms. Having entered Kenya lawfully he was subject to the protection offered by the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the government of Kenya had an obligation to uphold and protect his rights and fundamental freedoms.
“Mr. Nnamdi was, however, abducted, kept in solitude confinement, tortured and denied food and medication, a breach of basic rights. He was chained, humiliated, ridiculed and held in contempt and later forcibly removed from Kenya without following the law in violation of his rights and fundamental freedoms for which the government of Kenya is liable.
“Based on the above conclusions, the court makes the following declarations and orders it considers appropriate: A declaration is hereby issued that the abduction of Mr. Nwannekaenvi Nnamdi Kenny Okwu Kanu; holding him in incommunicado confinement, torturing him and denying him food, water, medication and other basic necessities was a violation of his rights and fundamental freedoms.
“A declaration is hereby issued that the abduction and subsequent forcible removal of Mr. Nwannekaenvi Nnamdi Kenny Okwu-Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria was in violation of the laws of Kenya; his rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of movement and security of the person guaranteed by the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and, therefore, unconstitutional and illegal.
“An order for compensation is hereby issued awarding Mr. Nwannekaenvi Nnamdi Kenny Okwu-Kanu general damages of Kshs 10,000,000 (N119,546,576.79) against the Attorney General of Kenya on behalf of the government of Kenya for the violation of Mr. Nwannekaenvi Nnamdi Kenny Okwu-Kanu’s constitutional rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Reacting to the judgement, the IPOB, through its spokesman, Emma Powerful, said it reinforced its long-held view that Kanu’s rendition to Nigeria was unlawful.
In a statement he issued Friday morning, Powerful described it as a “resounding judicial earthquake that has shaken the legal foundations of the fraudulent rendition of our leader, ONYENDU Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
He said the group had been vindicated in its stand that what transpired in Nairobi in June 2021 was not extradition but extraordinary rendition.
The IPOB spokesman then declared: “Let it be known that this is not the end. This is the beginning of a global accountability campaign.
“All those responsible — in Kenya, Nigeria, or elsewhere — shall be pursued to the ends of the earth under the universal principle of accountability for crimes against humanity.
“Neither British diplomatic complicity nor cowardly silence from Western powers will shield the perpetrators from the legal, diplomatic, and moral reckoning that is coming.”
While hailing the Kenyan judge for his courage, he said: “To the Nigerian judiciary, let this be a mirror: Justice is not an act of cowardice, but of courage.”
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