Kingsley ‘Kanunta’ Kanu, the brother of Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC’s) recently-published damning report into the United Kingdom (UK) government’s alleged failure to assist British nationals abroad is “satisfying”.
TOP MEDIA reports that the FAC concluded that the UK government is failing to prevent ‘abductor states’ from ‘weaponising [the] citizenship of British nationals for geopolitical ends’.
The report draws on ‘evidence’ provided by the Kanu family in relation to the Nigerian-British citizen, who was arrested in Kenya and transferred to Nigeria in June 2021, where he has remained in detention ever since.
The publication of the report comes a time the Kanu family are about to appeal against the UK High Court judgment that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) can lawfully evade reaching any conclusion on whether Kanu has been subject to extraordinary rendition.
Reacting to the FAC report, Kingsley said: “For nearly two years now, our family have been pressing the UK government to take more robust action to assist my brother. However, the UK government has responded by wringing its hands, procrastinating and offering platitudes rather than action that makes a difference.
“The government has not been willing to even reach a conclusion, privately or publicly, on whether Nnamdi has been subject to extraordinary rendition and has constantly told us that the approach it is taking is the most appropriate one.
“It is satisfying to us that the FAC has called into question the FCDO’s blanket approach of ‘quiet diplomacy’ and has been critical of the level of protection the FCDO currently offers to British nationals detained abroad.
“We hope that the FCDO will take the recommendations into consideration and will reconsider its approach to my brother’s case in light of them.”
