Kenya breaks silence on Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest, extradition

The Kenyan Government has broken its silence on last weekend’s arrest and extradition of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, with the Director-General of Kenyan Immigration Services, Alexander Muteshi, denying knowledge of it.

Kanu, who was arrested on Saturday, was flown into Abuja on Sunday.

He was rearraigned before Justice Binta Nyako of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday.

The judge had ordered that he should be remanded in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) till July, 26, 2021.

The Federal Government has been silent on the location of Kanu’s arrest.

But in a statement on Wednesday, Kingsley Kalu, a sibling of the IPOB leader, said he was arrested in Kenya.

“Whilst visiting Kenya, Nnamdi Kanu was detained and handed over to the Nigerian authorities who then flew him to Nigeria,” he said.

My brother has been subject to extraordinary rendition by Kenya and Nigeria. They have violated the most basic principles of the rule of law. Extraordinary rendition is one of the most serious crimes states can commit.”

But in an interview with The Nation, a Kenyan newspaper, yesterday, Thursday, July 1, 2021, Muteshi said he could not tell if Kanu was arrested in Kenya.

“I can’t know that,” Muteshi told Nation in response to a question on Kanu’s arrest.

“I am not in the picture of his presence in the country. I am only able to tell if somebody entered the country legally.”

It is unclear how Kanu entered Kenya.

The IPOB leader was standing trial for treason before he fled the country in 2017 after he was granted bail on health grounds. He told the court on Tuesday that he took the action to save his lifefollowing a deadly attack on his Umuahia country home in Abia State by the Nigerian military.

•Based on reports by The Nation (Kenya) and Daily Trust (Nigeria).