Kanu’s release: International counsel writes new British High Commissioner

Requests meeting to secure release

Bruce Fein, the International Lawyer and Spokesman for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has written to the new British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, tasking him on release of Kanu as a British citizen detained by Nigerian government.

Fein had written similar letter to Montgomery’s predecessor, Catriona Laing.

In his letter dated March 27, 2023 and referenced ‘Nnamdi Kanu-Biafra Sovereignty,’ which was made available to The Guardian by Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, Fein welcomed Montgomery to Nigeria and informed him that Kanu is a citizen of United Kingdom (UK) and the leader IPOB.

He stated that IPOB’s mission is to secure the right to self-determination for 70 million Biafrans through peaceful avenues of redress.

Fein also told the new High Commissioner that the Federal Government of Nigeria attempted to assassinate Kanu in his home in 2017 for his peaceful advocacy of self-determination, which is a fundamental human right under international human rights laws.

He also notified the British envoy that Nigerian courts have ordered the Federal Government to pay reparations to Kanu for its attempted assassination, and that in June 2021, Nigeria conspired with Kenya to kidnap and torture him in Nairobi, followed by his extraordinary rendition to Abuja.

He added that, at Abuja, Kanu has been detained indefinitely in solitary confinement without trial by the Nigerian government on concocted charges of treason, and that on July 20, 2022, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion finding Kanu’s detention violating 16 international human rights covenants.

Fein said: “The Working Group ordered his immediate and unconditional release and payment of reparations, but Federal Government remains in contempt of the Working Group’s order more than eight months after its issuance.”

Querying the UK refusal to do the needful for the release of Kanu, Fein requested to meet with Montgomery in Abuja to explore avenues to secure Nigeria’s compliance with the Working Group’s order, stressing that “the time is auspicious, because of the impending change in Nigerian government, and because of Kanu’s rapidly declining health.”