A British Court will on Tuesday review a suit brought on behalf of detained leader of the Indigeous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, challenging the United Kingdom government for not defending Kanu against the Nigerian government.
SaharaReporters reported in September that the family of Nnamdi Kanu had been granted an order by the UK court to challenge the British government for its non-intervention in his ongoing case against the Nigerian government.
Kanu was apprehended in Kenya in June 2021 before being taken against his will to Nigeria, where he has been held in detention since.
It is still the UK government's position that it is simply unable to determine how Kanu was brought to Nigeria (in June 2021), what happened to him on the way, whether he has been detained arbitrarily, and, if so, what action the UK should take.
This is despite admissions by the Nigerian government itself and damning findings by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Nigerian Court of Appeal.
Acknowledging the importance of the case in a preliminary ruling, Justice Richie said: “The right to life of a British subject is at the centre of this judicial review in which allegations of unlawful rendition and torture are made against the Nigerian government, which allegations at Court of Appeal level have apparently been upheld by the Nigerian Courts.”
In advance of Tuesday’s hearing, Kingsley “Kanunta” Kanu, who has brought the challenge on behalf of his brother, said: “I am very pleased that my brother’s plight will be heard in the High Court tomorrow (Tuesday) and that a British judge will consider whether the Foreign Secretary has acted lawfully to date in refusing to reach a firm view on his extraordinary rendition.
“The Nigerian courts have shown that they uphold the rule of law and are willing to hold the Nigerian government accountable.
“I believe the British government must act equally decisively when the serious violations of the human rights of British citizens abroad are concerned.”
Shirin Marker, solicitor at Bindmans LLP who represents Kanu’s family, said on Monday: “It is impossible to understand the position of successive Foreign Secretaries on this case. They have become mired in a culture of compulsive procrastination in the face of overwhelming evidence of serious human rights abuses, rather than responding in a principled and decisive way and fulfilling the most basic function of a state, which is to protect its own citizens from harm.”
Kanu’s family is represented by John Halford and Shirin Marker of Bindmans LLP, together with Charlotte Kilroy KC of Blackstone Chambers and Tatyana Eatwell of Doughty Street Chambers.