The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has lost his appeal against the United Kingdom (UK) government regarding his detention in Nigeria. Kanu, who holds both British and Nigerian citizenship, had sought the UK government’s intervention in his case with the Nigerian government, but the appeal was dismissed by the UK court.
Kanu has been held at the facility of the Department of State Service (DSS) since he was rearrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021 after fleeing the country in 2017. Seeking the UK government’s help, he filed an appeal in London last year to obtain an order compelling the Federal Government to publicly condemn his detention.
The IPOB leader sued the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), representing the UK government in London. However, the court ruled against him on March 23, 2023. Subsequently, he filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal, Royal Courts of Justice, challenging the High Court’s ruling.
On July 7, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision, stating that it could not interfere in the UK government’s decision on Kanu’s detention and conditions in Nigeria. The court cited the ongoing case against Kanu in Nigeria’s Supreme Court as a reason not to compel the Foreign Secretary to take a firm position on the matter.
Meanwhile, amid the legal proceedings, Kanu’s family has debunked claims made by the IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, that the Special Counsel to Kanu, Aloy Ejimakor, has been sacked. The family issued a statement on August 2, 2023, refuting the claim and asserting that Ejimakor remains the Special Counsel to Kanu and IPOB until Kanu decides otherwise.
