Ejimakor petitions UK parliament, seeks govt’s intervention to free Kanu

Mr Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has petitioned the British House of Lords over the continued detention of his client, praying UK government to intervene on the matter.

In the petition dated January 18, 2024, Ejimakor, who narrated the circumstances under which his client was renditioned illegally from Kenya on June 19, 2021, urged the House of Lords to promptly make demands on the Nigerian government to unconditionally release Kanu from detention and repatriate him to Britain. He also wants the UK government to place sanctions on the Federal Government (FG) if it fails to comply within a reasonable time.

“It is pertinent to stress the point that extraordinary rendition inherently destroys every prospect for a fair trial in the jurisdiction that levied the rendition. And UK courts have held in a plethora of cases that extraordinary rendition creates a barrier to the trial of a suspect.

“This was precisely the reason the United Kingdom had, in 1984, denied Nigeria’s formal application to extradite Umaru Dikko after his aborted extraordinary rendition from the UK.

“In our humble view, Mr. Kanu’s is no different, except that his case bears more equity because of his British nationality, as compared to Mr. Dikko who was not a British citizen,” he argued.

Also, Ejimakor, who complained about the deteriorating health of his client, explained that extraordinary rendition is by itself a form of torture that should shock the conscience of the Parliament, especially when considered together with the actual physical torture allegedly levied on his client by agents of the FG in Kenya and the solitary confinement to which Mr. Kanu has been subjected to in Nigeria, since his arrest.

According to him, torturing a British citizen overseas triggers the universal criminal jurisdiction of British courts. The lawyer, however, prayed the Parliament to, in the alternative, cause the British government to make binding proposals to Nigeria, with a view to conducting Kanu’s trial in the UK.

His words: “In addition to the fact that all the charges leveled against him are alleged to have been committed from British soil, there are other legal reasons Mr. Kanu should be tried in the UK rather than Nigeria.”

These reasons, he said, include the fact that he is a dual citizen of Nigeria and the UK. As a British citizen, he argued, Kanu has the right to seek legal protections from the UK government, which includes demanding that the UK be the venue for his trial.

Also, the lawyer stated that there are genuine concerns about the human rights situation and the treatment of defendants in Nigeria, adding that he would be more likely to receive a fair trial and be treated in accordance with international human rights standards if the trial is held in the UK.

Beside fair trial, the lawyer cited security and safety concerns as part of the reason to hold the trial in the UK, insisting that there is a potential threat to Kanu’s life in Nigeria.

“There are concerns about political interference in the legal process in Nigeria. A trial in the UK should mitigate these concerns, as well as ensure that the legal proceedings are fair and free from undue political influence,” Ejimakor declared, praying the Parliament to cause British government to make binding proposals to the FG to agree to conduct Kanu’s trial in a mutually agreed neutral third country, other than Nigeria and the UK, as was done in the Lockerbie trial of Libyan nationals.

He stated that the reason for approaching them was because the UK government had handled the matter with undue levity and has not accorded his client the full legal and diplomatic protections he is entitled to as a bonafide British subject.

“We trust that this petition will be given the most urgent and expeditious attention and due consideration by the House of Lords,” he prayed, pledging to appear in person together with Kanu’s British and American solicitors, if they deemed it necessary.