Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has renewed its call for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who has been in detention for four years. In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Ezechi Chukwu, the organization appealed to President Bola Tinubu to leverage his constitutional and diplomatic powers to secure Kanu’s freedom, emphasizing the principles of equity, fairness, and inclusive justice. Chukwu highlighted that it has been exactly four years since Kanu’s arrest and detention in Kenya before his extradition to Nigeria, questioning the rationale behind his prolonged detention without justice, given the unlawfulness of his extradition process and the questionable basis for his arraignment.

Adding further weight to the calls for his release, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), through its spokesperson Emma Powerful, disclosed that the High Court of Kenya, sitting in Nairobi, has declared Nnamdi Kanu’s extradition to Nigeria illegal. The landmark judgment, delivered on June 24, 2025, found that Kanu’s abduction, incommunicado detention, torture, and illegal transfer from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 were unlawful, unconstitutional, and constituted a gross violation of his fundamental human rights under both Kenyan and international law. This ruling, according to IPOB, validates their consistent assertion that the incident in Nairobi was not a lawful extradition but an act of extraordinary rendition, which they describe as a criminal act of state-sponsored international terrorism involving high authorities in the Nigerian and Kenyan governments.

IPOB expressed profound gratitude to Professor PLO Lumumba, the lead counsel in the Kenyan litigation, for his courageous and tenacious legal leadership that led to this significant victory. They also extended appreciation to the Kenyan judiciary, particularly Hon. Justice E.C. Mwita, for upholding the law despite political interference and international diplomatic pressure. The group reiterated that Kanu committed no crime in Kenya, stating that he entered the country lawfully as a British citizen. He was subsequently abducted in broad daylight at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by agents of Nigeria’s secret police in collusion with rogue elements of the Kenyan security apparatus, then chained, tortured, denied medication, and illegally flown to Abuja without any formal extradition hearing or judicial warrant. The Kenyan court held the Kenyan government liable for violating Kanu’s rights and awarded compensatory damages of 10 million Kenyan shillings, which, while a token amount, represents a significant blow to what IPOB termed Nigeria’s false narrative. The court explicitly found that Kanu was abducted without any lawful cause.