Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said that the pro-Biafra agitator is
“technically still in Kenya.”
Ejimakor explained that Kanu travelled to Kenya on a British
passport, hence should have been expelled to the same country and not Nigeria.
Kanu was recently rearrested and repatriated to Nigeria from
an undisclosed African country.
The country in question is believed to be Kenya, though the
Nigerian government is silent on where Kanu was rearrested from.
Kanu was first arrested in 2017 by the Nigerian government
for his agitation for the actualisation of Biafra.
Nnamdi Kanu: Buhari govt, Kenya broke international law in
arrest of IPOB leader – Lawyer
He was, however, granted bail in the same year by Justice
Binta Nyako of an Abuja Federal High Court.
Following the court’s decision, the IPOB leader jumped bail
and fled Nigeria to London. But his lawyer argued that he did not jump bail.
Ejimakor had insisted that Kanu fled Nigeria due to the
actions of the Federal Government.
He had claimed that the IPOB leader left Nigeria due to fear
of being killed after the Nigerian Army invaded his residence.
However, Ejimakor pointed out that expelling the IPOB leader
to Nigeria was against international law.
Ejimakor, in a statement he signed entitled: “Kanu is
technically still in Kenya,” said it was dubious that Kenya attributed Kanu’s
citizenship to Nigeria because it’s his place of birth.
The statement reads partly: “Yes, that’s right: In the
purest interpretations of foreign relations law, as applied to Britain and
Kenya, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is technically speaking, still in Kenya. How? Dual
national or not, Kanu departed Britain and travelled to Kenya as a British
citizen and Kenya admitted him as such. That’s the starting point.
“So, after his admission to Kenya, it happens that Kanu must
be expelled from Kenyan soil (with or without due process), the next natural
and legal thing to do is for Kenya to expel him to Britain, not Nigeria.
Choosing to expel him to Nigeria means that he could’ve also been expelled to
any other country than Nigeria.
“Why? Because Kanu presented himself to Kenya as a British
citizen, not a Nigerian citizen or even a dual citizen. In international law,
it was clearly a three-way immigration contract between Kanu, Britain and
Kenya. Nigeria was not a party to it; and Nigeria was never in reckoning at the
Kenyan port of entry when Kanu presented himself for admission. Lawyers call it
the privity of contract.
Buhari govt vs Nnamdi Kanu: Why there’ll be challenges in
court – Lawyer
“Counting from the time of Kanu’s abduction to the infamous
rendition, Kenya sighted no other travel document that could’ve, in addition to
Britain, attributed another nationality to Kanu, including that of Nigeria. Or,
was Kanu admitted to Kenya on a Nigerian birth certificate?
“So, it’s dubious that Kenya attributed Nigerian citizenship
to Kanu because sponsors of the abduction and rendition presumably told Kenya
that Kanu was born in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Kanu could not appear in court during his last
court hearing.
This was due to the inability of the Department of State
Services, DSS, to produce him.
DSS blamed it on logistics.
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