Tuesday- 27th July, 2021: Lawyers to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have commenced legal action against Nigeria and Kenya at the African Union's commission on human rights.
They are demanding accountability from the two countries for what they allege as illegal transfer or handling-over of their client without due process of extradition.
In a statement, Mr Kanu's special counsel, Alloy Ejimako, said they took the matter to the AU because Nigeria and Kenya were both members of the charter establishing the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.
The commission describes itself as the AU's "quasi-judicial body for promoting and protecting human rights" in Africa.
Mr Kanu's lawyers are requesting that he be taken to Kenya as a free man and a British citizen, alleging that his arrest there was invalid without successful extradition proceedings.
The IPOB leader holds British citizenship and the circumstances of his extradition back to Nigeria last month are unclear. The Kenyan government denied involvement in his arrest and extradition.
It comes after the Nigerian government failed to present Mr Kanu in court to continue his trial on treason and terrorism-related charges. A federal high court in Abuja ordered the authorities to produce him in the next court date on 21 October.
