UK under fire for role in Kanu’s detention

DDM News

The family of detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has issued a strong condemnation of the British government’s alleged complicity in his ongoing detention in Nigeria.

Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the family’s statement, released on Sunday and signed by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, expressed sorrow and fury at what they described as Britain’s historical betrayal and continued silence.

According to the family, Britain’s refusal to intervene in the extraordinary rendition and trial of its own citizen, Nnamdi Kanu, signals a troubling pattern of systemic injustice toward the Igbo people.

The family referenced the Nigerian Civil War, accusing Britain of supporting the genocide against Biafrans by supplying arms to the Nigerian state.

They stated that the methods may have changed since 1967, but the goal of suppressing the Igbo spirit remains unchanged in British policy.

“In 2021, they supplied the silence that allowed their citizen to be kidnapped and tortured,” the family wrote.

They questioned why the British High Commission in Nairobi failed to intervene during Kanu’s abduction in Kenya, and why the UK Foreign Office looked away as his human rights were grossly violated.

The family further cited what they called a pattern of hypocrisy, recalling a visit by British consular officers to Kanu in DSS custody in Abuja.

Kanu had reportedly asked the consular officers why the UK was allowing its citizen to be tried for actions committed in the UK, where IPOB and Radio Biafra are lawful entities.

According to the statement, the British response was evasive: “We’ll get back to you,” a promise that was never fulfilled.

Days after that meeting, Nigeria’s Attorney-General reportedly amended the charges against Kanu, removing any reference to the UK as the alleged location of his broadcasts.

The family alleges this was done either on British advice or with their consent to shield the UK from legal responsibility.

They emphasized that IPOB has never been banned in the UK, nor has any UK court issued an order against Kanu’s broadcasts.

Yet, the British government has persistently refused to challenge the legality of his detention and prosecution in Nigeria.

The family cited violations of the UK’s Extradition Act, Commonwealth Mutual Assistance Treaty, and international law, arguing that Britain’s refusal to act is not neutrality but endorsement of injustice.

They said that when asked why the UK won’t demand Kanu’s return to Kenya or Britain, officials from the UK Foreign Office replied that they “cannot interfere in a Nigerian trial.”

The Kanu family strongly rejected this stance, accusing the UK of consistent interference, not on behalf of justice, but to suppress truth and avoid culpability.

The statement declared, “This is not just false. It is a betrayal.”

They said the UK has actively helped suppress evidence, protect Nigerian impunity, and erase its own role in Kanu’s ordeal.

“This statement is not made in anger. It is made in defiance,” they said.

They called out centuries of British deception in Africa and vowed to continue challenging the silence that enables state-sponsored violence.

The family demanded that the UK government publicly admit its role in the illegal rendition of Nnamdi Kanu and take concrete action to ensure his release and safe return.

They urged the British Parliament to launch an inquiry into the actions of British diplomats in both Nairobi and Abuja.

They asked why Britain appears obsessed with silencing Biafra and Igbo voices.

They warned that should anything happen to their brother, they would hold the British government responsible—not for failing to act, but for choosing to act in support of oppression.

“Their silence is not neutrality,” the family concluded. “It is an endorsement of tyranny.”

They called on the international community to judge Britain’s actions and hold it accountable for what they described as diplomatic hypocrisy and complicity in modern-day injustice.

Let history, they said, record their warning: if Nnamdi Kanu dies in custody, his blood will stain not just Nigeria, but also the hands of Britain.

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