Kenya denies helping Nigeria to re-arrest Nnamdi Kanu

Jude Egbas 09:30 - 02 July 2021

Nnamdi Kanu

Kanu's re-arrest location has been the subject of intense speculation.

Top officials in the Kenyan government have denied that their nation played a role in the re-arrest and extradition of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu, who had been on the run for four years, was brought into Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, on Sunday June 27, 2021 and was herded into a courtroom in handcuffs on June 29.

There has been plenty of speculation over which other countries played a part in his capture, with the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Israel and Ethiopia named in the local press as a raft of possible nations who worked with the Nigerian government on Kanu's re-arrest.

Kanu's brother, Kingsley Kanu, had disclosed that his brother was arrested in Kenya--a claim the Kenyans have now rebutted.

A spokesperson for the Kenyan Interior Ministry told Reuters that the ministry wasn't aware of the development.

Kenya's Director-General of Immigration Services, Alexander Muteshi, told Kenya's Nation newspaper that it was impossible to tell whether Kanu had entered Kenyan territory.

Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed (Punch)

The Nigerian government has also refused to disclose where Kanu was arrested, with Information Minister Lai Mohammed telling the media on Thursday that Kanu was followed for over two years and that he lived a "five star life."

“What we can tell you, once again, is that the re-arrest was made possible by the diligent efforts of our security and intelligence agencies, in collaboration with countries with which we have obligations.

“We will continue to respect and honour the obligations," Mohammed said.

The minister also warned that: "We assure you that none of Kanu's collaborators, irrespective of their standing in the society, will be spared.

"They will all face the full wrath of the law for their activities that challenge our nation's sovereignty and threaten its unity.

"No one, no matter how highly placed, is bigger than the country."

Kanu flouted his bail conditions while on trial for treason and terrorism in 2017, and fled the country.

Kanu's IPOB seeks a separatist southeastern region that tried in 1967 to break away from Nigeria under the name Republic of Biafra.

The 1967 secession attempt triggered a three-year civil war in which more than a million Igbos died, mostly from starvation.