This archive report was first published on 4 July 2021.
On July 4, 2021, Nigerian Biafra leader Nnamdi Kanu was reportedly arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, Kenya. His lawyers have since come forward with allegations of torture by Kenyan police officers.
Kenya's High Commissioner to Nigeria, Wilfred Machage, had previously denied Kenya's involvement in Kanu's arrest, calling the allegations 'fictional, imaginary, and deliberately concocted' to fuel antagonistic feelings among certain sections of the Nigerian people.
However, Kanu's lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, released a statement on Twitter, claiming that his client was apprehended, tortured, and handed over to Nigerian security agents by operatives of Kenya's Special Police Force.
'He was tortured and subjected to all forms of inhuman treatment which worsened his health condition,' Ejiofor tweeted. 'He was illegally detained for eight good days in Kenya before being transferred to their Nigerian counterparts.'
According to Ejiofor, Kanu was purportedly investigated on a bogus charge while in Kenyan custody, awaiting to be handed over after their findings proved him innocent of all the spurious allegations.
Kenyan government officials were accused of being deeply involved in the abduction, detention, and ill-treatment of Kanu before the illegal handover to their Nigerian counterpart.
