Nnamdi Kanu: Kenya Denies Involvement in Secessionist Leader’s Arrest and Extradition

The Kenya government has dismissed claims that it is responsible for the arrest and extradition of secessionist leader Nnamdi Kanu back to Nigeria, saying it could not ascertain whether the act took place in Kenya.

 Mr Kanu’s family had named Kenya when it sensationally claimed that he was arrested in Kenya from where he was extradited to Nigeria.

Earlier, the Director General of Immigration Services Kenya, Alexander Muteshi dismissed the claims of Kenya’s complicity, arguing that it was not possible to tell whether Mr Kanu had entered Kenyan territory.

“I can’t know that,” Mr Muteshi told the Nation when asked whether the claims made by the family were true.

“I am not in the picture of his presence in the country. I am only able to tell if somebody entered the country legally,” 

Also, recall that Mr Dean Hurlock, the head of communications at the British High Commission in Nigeria has denied the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was arrested or extradited from the UK and revealed that the British government was in the process of seeking clarification from Nigeria on the circumstances surrounding the arrest and extradition.

“We can reaffirm that Nnamdi Kanu was not arrested in the UK nor was he extradited from the UK,” Mr Hurlock said.

Mr Kanu was arrested last Sunday by what sources say was a combined operation of Nigerian and foreign security officers. But the exact location of his arrest remains contentious.

Mr Kanu, who has been labeled a fugitive by the Nigerian authorities, was taken to a Nigerian Court on Wednesday, where government officials claimed they had arrested him in London, UK.

Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, said Mr Kanu’s arrest was planned and executed by Nigerian security and intelligence agencies and coordinated by the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA).

Mr Kanu is accused of engaging in unacceptable activities that include inciting violence through television, radio and online broadcasts against Nigeria and Nigerian State and institutions.

Kanu was also accused of instigating violence especially in the Southeastern Nigeria that resulted in the loss of lives and property of civilians, military, paramilitary, police forces and destruction of civil institutions and symbols of authority.