• Nnamdi Kanu was abducted by the Kenyan authorities on June 19
• He was literally disappeared for 10 days when no one knew where he was.
Image: Agencies
I am the brother of Nnamdi Kanu. My brother was abducted by the Kenyan authorities on June 19. He was literally disappeared for 10 days when no one knew where he was. He appeared in a court in Nigeria on June 29. What’s his so-called crime that required him to be subjected to such serious human rights violations? My brother leads the Biafran movement for self-determination.
My family is very grateful to the Star for breaking this story. It has become global news. However, my brother has not been extradited. He is the victim of extraordinary rendition. Extradition requires due process and for the courts to authorise the transfer of a person across borders. Kenyan [authorities] did not provide my brother with that protection.
My brother is British. He renounced his Nigerian citizenship. He lives publicly and proudly in London. He was staying openly in Nairobi. Nigerians could have sought his extradition at any point. Instead, they resorted to committing an international crime and, to their shame, the Kenyan authorities joined in that criminal enterprise.
My brother will not get a fair trial in Nigeria, but Kenya is different. We have faith in the judicial system of Kenya. We have, therefore, issued legal proceedings in Kenya to have the actions of the Kenyan authorities declared unlawful.
We are also seeking sanctions from the British against those responsible for the extraordinary rendition. If President [Uhuru] Kenyatta is implicated, he must be sanctioned. There will be a bitter irony if Uhuru Kenyatta is responsible for the serious human rights violations committed against my brother. It was Biafrans who saved his father Jomo Kenyatta from the British. Without the Biafrans, Kenyatta would have been executed.
Biafrans had hoped for camaraderie from Kenyans, not betrayal.
Kingsley Kanu