Bindmans LLP have sent a pre-action letter on behalf of the Kanu family to the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab MP, challenging his ongoing failure to provide consular assistance to Nnamdi Kanu, a British national who is currently detained by the Nigerian Security Services (DSS) in Abuja.
Mr Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, was arrested in Kenya in June 2021 and transferred across borders to Nigeria without his British passport. There are serious concerns that Mr Kanu was the subject of extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria, a practice which is unlawful under international law. He continues to be detained by the DSS in Nigeria. Despite the family’s concerns 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 in detention.
Mr Kanu’s family continue to call upon the British government to do everything they can to secure Mr Kanu’s safety.
Mr Kanu’s wife says:
Only the British government can prevent him from being subjected to further harm. My family’s future happiness rests with Dominic Raab. He can end all of this in an instant. He can stop my nightmare.
Mr Kanu’s family are represented by Shirin Marker, John Halford and Verity Cannell of Bindmans LLP, together with Edward Fitzgerald QC, Jude Bunting and Tatyana Eatwell of Doughty Street Chambers.
You can find our previous press release on this matter here.