IPOB's Lawyer Narrates How Pro-Biafra Group Leader, Nnamdi Kanu Was Arrested In Kenya 'On 19 June' (VIDEO)

Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nigerian Biafra political activist, Nnamdi Kanu, and the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Thursday said that his client, is mentally traumatised.

On Tuesday 29, June 2021, Nigeria Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami broke the news that law enforcement agents have arrested Kanu. Kanu later went to court the day the announcement was made.

In an interview with BBC Pidgin on Thursday, Ejimakor who said he visited Kanu in Nigeria's secret police, Department of State Services (DSS) office on Wednesday, 14, July also stated that the IPOB Leader narrated to him how security forces arrested him in Kenya and how he was brought back to Nigeria.

"I saw him (Kanu) yesterday (Wednesday) for almost three hours at the Headquarters of DSS in Abuja," Ejimakor explained. "We engaged in a private interaction initially, and later three DSS officers interviewed him in my presence. They asked him questions, most of the questions centred on his being the leader of IPOB and the group's activities.

"His state of mind is not as sound as it ought to be. While conversing with him, it was a bit difficult for him remembering the actual date they abducted him, I was surprised. He appeared like someone who has been mentally traumatised. Although, he was not afraid, he was traumatised.

"I also noticed that he has sustained an injury in his right wrist. I asked the cause, He said it was where they used chain to tie him to a concrete floor in Nairobi, Kenya. There is an injury mark on his neck side too."

Furthermore, on how he was seized, Ejimakor said Kanu informed him that it happened at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

"Nnamdi Kanu entered Kenya around April this year, I am not sure of the exact date, but I have documents showing a Kenyan hospital attended to him on the 14th of May. He went there because he has issues with his heart. They said he has hypertension and heart murmur.

"He has settled at somewhere in Nairobi where he entered with his passport, I have the bio-data page of his passport that has immigration stamp showing Kanu was admitted before the extraordinary rendition."

The moment Nnamdi Kanu was arrested

"The fateful day was on the 19th of June," Ejimakor claimed. "He drove to Jomo Kenyatta Airport, to the underground garage, to pick up one visitor who flew into the country. That was where a group of seven men attacked him. They grabbed him and took him to one private facility where he was blindfolded, chained and tortured for most of the eight days that he was there," Ejimakor said.

According to the legal practitioner, Kanu remained in the private facility until he was finally handed over to Nigerian authorities.

"On the 27th of June, he (Kanu) said he was driven, blindfolded, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and bundled inside a private jet. He was the sole passenger inside the jet, no immigration clearance. They drove him straight atop the tarmac to a place close to the plane. They put him inside the plane with Nigerian security officials on board and the plane left around 12 noon. It landed in Nigeria same day around 4 or 5pm."

Meanwhile, AllNews cannot independently verify the account of Nnamdi Kanu and his lawyer as to how his rearrest actually happened.

It would be recalled that Kenya had denied involvement in Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest. Wilfred Machage, Kenyan high commissioner to Nigeria spoke on behalf of the East African country.

“I want to address the allegation by denying that Kenya was involved in the alleged arrest in Kenya and extradition to Nigeria of Mr Kanu,” Machage had said at a media briefing on July 2.

“The allegation is fictional, imaginary and deliberately concocted to fuel antagonistic feeling amongst the southern section of the Nigerian people against the Kenya people.

“Indeed many countries have been accused — Rwanda, Czech Republic, Britain, Ethiopia — and God knows which other countries.

“I want to challenge anyone with facts relating to this alleged arrest in Kenya to present this fact. This will include how and who was particularly involved in the alleged arrest.

“Nigeria is a sovereign country. It’s your country. Instead of facing the Kenyan high commission in Nigeria to ask some of these questions, you should face your government.

“The government of Nigeria knows how they arrested him. They have the answers, not me.”

Kanu was first arrested in Nigeria on October 14, 2015, following years of his agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra, a campaign that is at least 50-year-old.

He was granted bail in April 2017 but fled Nigeria after soldiers invaded his residence in Abia state during a military clampdown on IPOB members.

While on the run, the separatist leader piloted the affairs of IPOB from abroad.

Following his re-arrest, the federal government arraigned him before the federal high court in Abuja where a judge granted the DSS permission to keep him in its custody until July 26 when his trial will continue.

Watch the full video of Ejimakor's interview with BBC here.