Justice E C Mwita of the High Court in Nairobi, Kenya, has ruled that the abduction, detention, and subsequent rendition of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to Nigeria was illegal and unlawful.
The ruling, delivered on June 24, 2025, follows a legal challenge brought against both the Kenyan and Nigerian governments over the controversial events of June 2021, when Kanu was forcefully removed from Kenya and brought to Nigeria.
In a comprehensive 13-page judgment, Justice Mwita declared that the actions of both governments constituted a gross violation of Kanu’s fundamental human rights, as protected under both the Kenyan Constitution and international law.
“Having considered the pleadings and arguments by parties, the decisions relied on, the Constitution and the law, I come to the following conclusions: First, the government of Kenya violated the Constitution and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu’s rights and fundamental freedoms,” the judge stated.
The court further emphasized that Kanu lawfully entered Kenya and was therefore entitled to the full protections afforded by the Kenyan Constitution. Instead, he was subjected to unlawful treatment including solitary confinement, torture, denial of food and medication, and eventual forced removal from the country.
“Mr. Nnamdi was, however, abducted, kept in solitary confinement, tortured, and denied food and medication — a breach of basic rights. He was chained, humiliated, ridiculed, and held in contempt, and later forcibly removed from Kenya without following the law, in violation of his rights and fundamental freedoms, for which the government of Kenya is liable,” Justice Mwita ruled.
The court issued a declaration that the abduction and subsequent transfer of Kanu violated Kenya’s laws and his personal rights to movement and security. Consequently, the judge awarded him KSh 10 million (approximately ₦119.5 million) in general damages against the Attorney General of Kenya on behalf of the Kenyan government.
Meanwhile, IPOB has hailed the judgment as a significant judicial victory. In a statement signed by the group’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB described the ruling as a “resounding judicial earthquake” that affirmed the illegality of what it calls the extraordinary rendition of its leader.
“In a historic, courageous, and landmark judgement delivered on June 24, 2025, the High Court of Kenya, sitting in Nairobi, found that the abduction, incommunicado detention, torture, and illegal transfer of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 was unlawful, unconstitutional, and a gross violation of his fundamental human rights under Kenyan and international law,” the statement said.
The group further asserted that the judgment exposes what it termed “a criminal act of state-sponsored international terrorism” involving the highest authorities in both Kenya and Nigeria.
“We are grateful beyond measure to the brilliant legal leadership of Professor P L O Lumumba, lead counsel in the Kenyan litigation, whose courage, clarity, and tenacity led to this monumental legal victory,” IPOB stated.
The group also thanked Justice E C Mwita for what it described as judicial courage in the face of “ferocious political interference and international diplomatic pressure.”
“This verdict places a permanent and indelible legal stain on the records of former Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, and former Attorney General Abubakar Malami, and their accomplices,” IPOB added.
It further accused various Nigerian administrations, from Buhari to Tinubu, of attempting to manipulate the Kenyan judiciary and conceal the circumstances of the rendition.
“This is the beginning of a global accountability campaign. 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,” the statement read.
The group concluded by dedicating the judgment to “the oppressed peoples of the world,” calling it a warning to “tyrants that international borders will no longer shield criminal regimes from justice.”
PUO Reports will continue to monitor developments surrounding the legal and diplomatic implications of this landmark ruling.
