Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
A High Court sitting in Milimani, Nairobi, has ordered the Kenyan Government to pay 10 million Kenyan shillings to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The Court, which indicted Kenyan Government for its complicity in Kanu’s extraordinary rendition to Nigeria, declared the action illegal.
Hon. Justice E. C Mwita, who presided over the matter, declared that “the abduction, incommunicado detention, torture, and illegal transfer of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 was unlawful, unconstitutional, and a gross violation of his fundamental human rights under Kenyan and international law.”
Delivering judgment in the suit marked HCCHRPET/E359/2021 filed by Kanu’s brother, Kingsley Kanu on behalf of the IPOB leader, the Court found the defendants guilty of violating Kanu’s fundamental human rights.
The defendants include: Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Interior & Coordinator of National Government; Director of Immigration Services; Director of Criminal Investigations; Officer Commanding Police Division, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport; Attorney General of Kenya and 10 others.
Kanu’s legal team was led by Professor PLO Lumumba.
The court held that: “Mazi Kanu was abducted without any lawful cause; tortured and detained incommunicado in violation of the Kenyan Constitution,” adding that “his removal from Kenya was unconstitutional and illegal.”
The Court, therefore, awarded compensatory damages of 10 million Kenyan shillings in favour of Kanu.
Meanwhile, IPOB has hailed the judgment, describing it as “milestone.”
Media and Publicity Secretary of the pro-Biafra movement, Emma Powerful, in a statement, Friday, commended the presiding Judge, Justice Mwita, for his courage to decide the matter based on its merits.
IPOB said: “This judgement vindicates our consistent position that what transpired in Nairobi in June 2021 was not extradition but extraordinary rendition — a criminal act of state-sponsored international terrorism involving the highest authorities of the Nigerian and Kenyan governments.”
The statement read in part: “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wishes to formally announce a resounding judicial earthquake that has shaken the legal foundations of the fraudulent rendition of our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“We are grateful beyond measure to the brilliant legal leadership of Professor PLO Lumumba, lead counsel in the Kenyan litigation, whose courage, clarity, and tenacity led to this monumental legal victory. IPOB also extends heartfelt appreciation to the Kenyan judiciary, especially Hon. Justice E.C. Mwita, who stood tall against ferocious political interference and international diplomatic pressure to deliver a fearless judgement grounded in law, morality, and constitutional justice.
“We know, and now the world must acknowledge, that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu did not commit any crime in Kenya. He entered Kenya lawfully as a British citizen. He was abducted in broad daylight at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by agents of Nigeria’s secret police in collusion with rogue elements of the Kenyan security apparatus.
“He was chained, tortured, denied medication, and eventually bundled onto a private jet and flown illegally to Abuja without any extradition hearing or judicial warrant.”
IPOB further claimed that “this verdict places a permanent and indelible legal stain on the records of former Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, ‘Muhammadu Buhari’ of Nigeria and former Attorney General Abubakar Malami, and their accomplices.”
“It also exposes the criminal lobbying missions embarked upon by Nigerian leaders who tried and failed to manipulate Kenya’s judiciary to cover up this internationally condemned act of extraordinary rendition,” IPOB said.
The statement further said: “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.
“To Justice E.C. Mwita, we say thank you for your judicial bravery. To Professor PLO Lumumba and his team, we salute your exceptional advocacy. To the oppressed peoples of the world, this is your victory — a warning to tyrants that international borders will no longer shield criminal regimes from justice.
“To the Nigerian judiciary, let this be a mirror: Justice is not an act of cowardice, but of courage. The world now knows the truth. Kenya has spoken.
Justice is rising.”
