The family of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Biafra agitation movement, has strongly accused the United Kingdom of playing a complicit role in his 2021 rendition from Kenya to Nigeria.

 

In a statement issued on Sunday by the family’s spokesman, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the family expressed outrage at the British Government’s continued silence and inaction regarding Kanu’s prosecution in Nigeria, despite his status as a lawful British citizen.

 

They specifically condemned the UK’s refusal to challenge what they called an unjust trial, asserting that the trial has no legal standing, especially since Kanu was abducted without due process and transferred illegally in violation of international law.

 

The family demanded that the UK publicly accept its involvement in Kanu’s extraordinary rendition and call for his immediate return to either the United Kingdom or Kenya, where he was originally abducted. They further urged Britain to withdraw any diplomatic or legal support that enables Kanu’s continued detention and prosecution in Nigeria.

 

Additionally, the family called for a parliamentary investigation into the role played by British diplomatic missions in Nairobi and Abuja in the events that led to Kanu’s transfer to Nigeria.

 

“With hearts burdened by sorrow, we issue this declaration in defense of our beloved brother and in remembrance of the over five million Biafrans killed during Britain’s complicity in the 1967–1970 genocide,” the family said.

 

They accused the UK of orchestrating a modern form of persecution by standing silently behind the scenes while their citizen was allegedly tortured and subjected to a political trial.

 

Citing his arrest in June 2021 in Nairobi, the family said Kanu was abducted, drugged, and flown to Nigeria in clear breach of Kenyan and international law—yet Britain remained silent. “That silence,” they said, “was not neutrality, but complicity.”

 

They questioned why British diplomatic officials in Nairobi did nothing when a UK citizen was reportedly mistreated, and why the Foreign Office refused to challenge the Nigerian authorities or seek Kanu’s return.

 

The statement revealed that during a consular visit, Kanu asked British officials why the UK was allowing him to be tried for actions carried out in the UK, where his organization, IPOB, and its media arm, Radio Biafra, are legal entities. The officials allegedly gave no answer.

 

Following the visit, the Nigerian government removed “London, United Kingdom” from the list of locations tied to the charges against Kanu. The family described this move as a clear cover-up facilitated or approved by the UK.

 

The family argued that the UK has legal grounds to intervene but has deliberately chosen not to. They accused the British government of enabling Nigeria’s impunity while suppressing evidence and evading its responsibilities to Kanu as a citizen.

 

They drew parallels between Britain’s role during the Biafran War and its current silence, accusing it of maintaining a legacy of hostility toward the Igbo people.

 

The family declared: “This is not anger, it is defiance—against British deception, silence, and injustice. If anything happens to Nnamdi Kanu, we will hold the United Kingdom responsible—not for failing to act, but for choosing to side with tyranny.”

 

They concluded by warning that history will remember Britain’s silence not as impartiality, but as an endorsement of oppression.