Kenyan court declares Nnamdi Kanu’s transfer to Nigeria illegal, IPOB reacts

In a landmark judgement, the High Court of Kenya sitting in Nairobi, the nation’s capital, has ruled that the detention and transfer of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from the East African country to Nigeria was unlawful and illegal.

The ruling delivered by the presiding judge, Justice E.C. Mwita, on June 24, 2025, condemned both the Kenyan and Nigerian governments for gross violations of Kanu’s fundamental rights. For restitution, the court awarded compensatory damages of 10 million Kenyan shillings against the two governments to be paid to Kanu.

In June 2021, Kanu was arrested in Kenya and shipped to Nigeria, where he had fled after the military invasion of his family compound in Abia State.

However, Justice Mwita stated that, having entered Kenya lawfully, the IPOB leader was subject to the protection afforded by the Constitution of Kenya 2010, noting that the Kenyan government had an obligation to uphold and protect rights and fundamental freedoms.

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“The government of Kenya violated the Constitution and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu’s rights and fundamental freedoms. Having entered Kenya lawfully, he was subject to the protection offered by the Constitution of Kenya 2010. However, he was abducted, kept in solitary confinement, tortured, and forcibly removed from Kenya without following the law,” the Judge held.

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Reacting in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, on Friday, June 27, 2025, IPOB described the ruling as a ‘resounding judicial earthquake’ that vindicates its long-standing position on Kanu’s illegal rendition.

The group alleged that the Nigerian and Kenyan governments orchestrated a criminal act of state-sponsored international terrorism, vowing to pursue global accountability for everyone involved.

It stressed that Kanu’s rendition wasn’t an extradition but an ‘extraordinary rendition’ planned and executed by the Nigerian and Kenyan security agencies.

“He was abducted in broad daylight at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, chained, tortured, and flown illegally to Abuja without any extradition hearing or judicial warrant,” the statement partly read.

IPOB profoundly thanked the lead counsel in the Kenyan litigation, Professor PLO Lumumba and Justice Mwita, for their “courage, clarity, and tenacity” in delivering the judgment.

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“This verdict places a permanent legal stain on the records of former presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, as well as their accomplices,” the statement added.

The group warned that the judgment has kick-started a global campaign to hold all perpetrators accountable, stating, “All those responsible, in Kenya, Nigeria, or elsewhere, shall be pursued to the ends of the earth under the universal principle of accountability for crimes against humanity.”