UK Court Begins Hearing On Nnamdi Kanu’s Extraordinary Rendition Suit

The United Kingdom (UK) Court of Appeal has commenced hearing the appeal of the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu’s extraordinary rendition.

Naija News recalls that Kanu was renditioned from Kenya in June 2021. He has since remained in solitary confinement in the custody of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS).

However, the UK Court of Appeal had fixed June 22, 2023, to hear the appeal.

Giving an update on the ongoing hearing in London today, Kanu’s Special Counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, told newsmen that “In an Order on 8th May 2023, Lord Justice Lewis, a senior British Court of Appeal judge, granted the family of Nnamdi Kanu permission to appeal the UK High Court judgment that found that the British authorities could lawfully evade reaching any conclusion on whether Mr Nnamdi Kanu has been tortured, subjected to extraordinary rendition and arbitrarily detained.

“It will be recalled that in a ruling on 23rd March 2023, the UK High Court had declined Kanu family’s suit for judicial review of the failure of the British government to reach a firm view in Nnamdi Kanu’s extraordinary rendition. This earlier ruling prompted an application for leave to appeal to the British Court of Appeal by the Bindmans, the Lead Counsel representing the Kanu family in the case.

“While assuming jurisdiction over the appeal, Lord Justice Lewis of the Court Appeals noted that: “The grounds of appeal raise important issues concerning the scope of the obligations on the respondent in relation to requests for consular assistance in respect of British nationals detained abroad and the proper interpretation and application of the decision of the Court of Appeal in R(Abassi) v Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2003] UKHRR 76.

“For those reasons, there is a compelling reason for the appeal to be heard, within the meaning of CPR 52.6(1)(b). Permission is granted on all three grounds.

“And citing the urgency arising from the continued solitary confinement of Nnamdi Kanu, the Court of Appeal ordered that the hearing of the appeal be expedited. Accordingly, the hearing was listed for Thursday 22nd June 2023 and is currently underway,” Ejimakor reportedly told SaharaReporters.