We Won’t Allow Kanu Remain In DSS Custody Till Oct, IPOB Threatens

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has vowed to ensure that its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, regains freedom before October.
Justice Binta Nyako of an Abuja Federal High Court had adjourned Kanu’s trial till October 21, 2021.
The judge gave the ruling over the inability of the Department of State Services (DSS), to produce Kanu in court.
The IPOB leader has been in DSS custody since he was rearrested and repatriated from an African country.
However, IPOB’s Head, Directorate of State, Mazi Chika Edoziem, claimed that the Federal Government is determined to punish Kanu.
In a statement, Edoziem also warned South-East governors, and those alleged to have betrayed Kanu of dire consequences.
Edoziem warned them to pray fervently that nothing happens to the IPOB leader.
The statement reads, “To all the governors, businessmen in Biafra land and all those who are complicit in the abduction of our leader from Kenya to Nigeria, those of you who contributed money to enable the Nigerian government to kidnap our leader, pray fervently that his health is not endangered and nothing untoward happens to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, because then the land of Biafra shall not accommodate you and the Biafra people.
“We affirm our readiness to do all that is necessary to secure the immediate release of our leader. It is completely unacceptable to IPOB to allow our leader to remain in the hands of the enemy up till October, 2021.”
Meanwhile, the family of Nnamdi Kanu in London has accused British government of failing to provide him with consular assistance in Nigeria’s DSS detention.
Kanu holds British and Nigerian citizenship.
Lawyers for the family in UK made the claim of abandonment, yesterday.
Kanu was kidnapped back to Nigeria in June after years on the run abroad.
He is being held pending a treason trial.
Bindmans, a London law firm, said it had sent a pre-action letter to British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab on behalf of Kanu’s family, challenging Britain’s failure to assist him.
A junior Foreign Office minister had said last week that Britain stood ready to provide consular assistance to Kanu and had requested consular access from the Nigerian government.
However, Bindmans said no consular visit had taken place.
“Despite the family’s concern that he has been subject to torture and is being denied essential medical treatment, the British High Commission have so far failed to visit him in detention,” it said in a statement.
Kanu was supposed to appear in court in Abuja, last Monday but the authorities failed to produce him, citing logistical issues.
His trial was adjourned until October.
Nigeria has not revealed the circumstances of Kanu’s detention.
His Nigerian lawyer has accused authorities in Kenya of detaining and mistreating him before handing him over to Nigeria.
Kenya has denied involvement.
Bindmans said Kanu might have been the subject of extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria, an unlawful practice.
The Foreign Office in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kanu faces 11 counts including treason, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms.
IPOB wants a swathe of the South-East to split from Nigeria.
The region tried to secede in 1967 under the name Republic of Biafra, triggering a three-year civil war in which more than a million people died, mostly of starvation.