The wife of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, has lamented that none of the family members has been able to reach him since he got into the custody of the Department of State Services.
Uchechi added that Kanu is believed to be beaten and tortured by the security agencies both in Kenya and Nigeria, which gives all of them great worry.
The IPOB leader’s wife, who is currently in the North of England, stated this in an interview on Sunday she granted to United Kingdom newspaper, The Sunday Times.
Speaking for the first time since the arrest of Kanu, the wife, 40, lamented, “It’s hard for me to speak. I’m extremely devastated. He has been beaten and tortured and I am scared for his life.”
She said she and the family had had no contact with him since his arrest.
Uchechi said, “I was always worried about Nnamdi. When you’re asking for freedom from dictatorship, you are a target. But when I saw what happened in Belarus and how no one did anything, I knew nowhere was safe.
“The Nigerian government carrying out this rendition is a crime. We’re not even talking about independence,” she said.
“We’re just calling for a referendum exactly like Scotland did with UK and UK did with the EU but the Nigerian government wants to exterminate our whole family. It’s a scandal and thing of shame that Britain is not acting to secure their own citizens.”
Also, a lawyer at Doughty Street Chambers in London, who is consulting for the Kanu family, warned that the UK risked becoming “complicit in torture” if it did not act in support of Kanu.
“Extraordinary rendition is recognised as a form of torture,” said Jonathan Cooper.
“We need the UK government to take the lead by condemning the actions of Nigeria and Kenya and by insisting that if Kanu is to be returned to Nigeria, only independent courts can authorise his return. If the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, continues to say nothing, there is a risk that the UK will become complicit in torture.”
Two weeks ago, Kanu appeared in court in Abuja, hooded and charged for inciting violence. The Nigerian authorities claimed that he was extradited to the country to continue his trial.
Sahara Reporters
