Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has alleged his client was held incommunicado and chained to bare floor for eight days in a nondescript private facility in Kenya.
Ejimakor spoke after he visited Kanu, who is still in detention at the Department of State Services (DSS) Headquarters in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said: “I met with His Excellency today for nearly 3hrs. He greets you all. He’s in high spirits despite the tribulations. He’s looking forward to overcoming this damned rendition sooner than later. He requests that there should be no disunity; that the Family must remain focused.”
Ejimakor revealed to an online newspaper monitored by The Nation on Thursday his client was blindfolded and flown to Abuja on a private jet on Sunday, June 27th, 2021 from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi as the only passenger onboard.
Ejimakor said during his meeting with the IPOB leader, Kanu revealed he was driven to the airport tarmac and very close to the plane without passing through Immigration.
“The people that abducted him said that they were told by their sponsors that Kanu was a Nigerian terrorist linked to the Islamic terrorists in Kenya, presumably Al-Shabab.
“But after several days when they discovered his true identity, they tended to treat him less badly. Despite that, they told him they felt committed to hand him over to those that hired them,” Ejimakor said.
He said no warrant of arrest was provided.
“Kanu was in point of fact tortured and subjected to untold cruel and inhuman treatment in Kenya. He said his abductors disclosed to him that they abducted him at the behest of Nigerian government.
“He was blindfolded and driven to the tarmac very close to the plane without passing through the airport immigration. The plane departed Nairobi at about 12 pm and arrived Abuja in the evening.
“Kanu was flown to Abuja in the private jet on Sunday 27th June, 2021 from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi and that he was the lone passenger,” he said.
Ejimakor said Kanu was interviewed for the first time by three DSS operatives in his presence.
“The interview was revealing as it contained certain new allegations that were never heard of before. But all the questions relate directly or indirectly to his status as the leader of IPOB.
“I observed that despite what he has passed through, he was in high spirits and looked forward to overcoming the extraordinary rendition that brought him to Nigeria.
“In my assessment of how the case now stands, I wager that before any court can subject Kanu to trial for any offenses, it has to first conduct a trial within trial on the grievous incident that forced him to leave Nigeria and the equally grievous incident that forced him back to Nigeria,” he said.
