Nnamdi Kanu: IPOB Leader’s International Lawyer Accuses UK of Ignoring Illegal Abduction, Torture and Detention, Urges Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Intervene
The international lawyer and spokesperson for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has accused the United Kingdom of deliberately ignoring what he described as Kanu’s illegal abduction, torture and continued imprisonment in Nigeria. In a strongly worded letter addressed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street, Kanu’s counsel, Bruce Fein, called for urgent diplomatic intervention to secure the release of the British citizen.
Fein alleged that Kanu was kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021, tortured and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria by Nigerian security agents, actions he said violated international law and multiple human rights conventions. According to the lawyer, Kanu has since been held in prolonged solitary confinement without adequate medical care under Nigeria’s security services.
The letter recalled a July 2022 ruling by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found that Nigeria violated 16 international human rights covenants in Kanu’s arrest and detention. The UN body ordered his immediate and unconditional release and payment of reparations—directives Fein said the Nigerian government has ignored for more than three years.
Fein also condemned Kanu’s life sentence handed down by a Federal High Court in Abuja on November 20, 2025, describing the trial as a “show trial” and insisting that Kanu’s advocacy for Biafran self-determination was pursued through peaceful means. He accused successive UK governments of failing to act despite Kanu’s British citizenship and questioned whether Britain’s silence was motivated by political interests, oil diplomacy or racial bias.
Drawing comparisons with the UK’s recent intervention in securing the release of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Fein described the contrasting response as a troubling double standard. He urged Prime Minister Starmer to use diplomatic channels to negotiate Kanu’s release, arguing that doing so would reinforce Britain’s commitment to human rights and correct what he called a historic injustice tied to colonial-era decisions and Britain’s role during the Biafran Civil War.
Kanu remains in the custody of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), as calls from rights groups, lawyers and supporters intensify for his release amid growing international scrutiny of Nigeria’s handling of the case.
The international lawyer and spokesperson for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has accused the United Kingdom of deliberately ignoring what he described as Kanu’s illegal abduction, torture and continued imprisonment in Nigeria. In a strongly worded letter addressed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street, Kanu’s counsel, Bruce Fein, called for urgent diplomatic intervention to secure the release of the British citizen.
Fein alleged that Kanu was kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021, tortured and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria by Nigerian security agents, actions he said violated international law and multiple human rights conventions. According to the lawyer, Kanu has since been held in prolonged solitary confinement without adequate medical care under Nigeria’s security services.
The letter recalled a July 2022 ruling by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found that Nigeria violated 16 international human rights covenants in Kanu’s arrest and detention. The UN body ordered his immediate and unconditional release and payment of reparations—directives Fein said the Nigerian government has ignored for more than three years.
Fein also condemned Kanu’s life sentence handed down by a Federal High Court in Abuja on November 20, 2025, describing the trial as a “show trial” and insisting that Kanu’s advocacy for Biafran self-determination was pursued through peaceful means. He accused successive UK governments of failing to act despite Kanu’s British citizenship and questioned whether Britain’s silence was motivated by political interests, oil diplomacy or racial bias.
Drawing comparisons with the UK’s recent intervention in securing the release of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Fein described the contrasting response as a troubling double standard. He urged Prime Minister Starmer to use diplomatic channels to negotiate Kanu’s release, arguing that doing so would reinforce Britain’s commitment to human rights and correct what he called a historic injustice tied to colonial-era decisions and Britain’s role during the Biafran Civil War.
Kanu remains in the custody of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), as calls from rights groups, lawyers and supporters intensify for his release amid growing international scrutiny of Nigeria’s handling of the case.
Nnamdi Kanu: IPOB Leader’s International Lawyer Accuses UK of Ignoring Illegal Abduction, Torture and Detention, Urges Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Intervene
The international lawyer and spokesperson for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has accused the United Kingdom of deliberately ignoring what he described as Kanu’s illegal abduction, torture and continued imprisonment in Nigeria. In a strongly worded letter addressed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street, Kanu’s counsel, Bruce Fein, called for urgent diplomatic intervention to secure the release of the British citizen.
Fein alleged that Kanu was kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021, tortured and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria by Nigerian security agents, actions he said violated international law and multiple human rights conventions. According to the lawyer, Kanu has since been held in prolonged solitary confinement without adequate medical care under Nigeria’s security services.
The letter recalled a July 2022 ruling by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found that Nigeria violated 16 international human rights covenants in Kanu’s arrest and detention. The UN body ordered his immediate and unconditional release and payment of reparations—directives Fein said the Nigerian government has ignored for more than three years.
Fein also condemned Kanu’s life sentence handed down by a Federal High Court in Abuja on November 20, 2025, describing the trial as a “show trial” and insisting that Kanu’s advocacy for Biafran self-determination was pursued through peaceful means. He accused successive UK governments of failing to act despite Kanu’s British citizenship and questioned whether Britain’s silence was motivated by political interests, oil diplomacy or racial bias.
Drawing comparisons with the UK’s recent intervention in securing the release of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Fein described the contrasting response as a troubling double standard. He urged Prime Minister Starmer to use diplomatic channels to negotiate Kanu’s release, arguing that doing so would reinforce Britain’s commitment to human rights and correct what he called a historic injustice tied to colonial-era decisions and Britain’s role during the Biafran Civil War.
Kanu remains in the custody of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), as calls from rights groups, lawyers and supporters intensify for his release amid growing international scrutiny of Nigeria’s handling of the case.
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