The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has applauded a major verdict by Kenya’s High Court, which declared the abduction and forcible transfer of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 to be illegal and unconstitutional.
In a verdict dated June 24, 2025, Justice E.C. Mwita reprimanded both the Kenyan and Nigerian governments for severe abuses of Kanu’s fundamental rights and granted him KSh10 million in compensatory damages.
In his decision, Justice Mwita ruled that “the government of Kenya violated the Constitution and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu’s rights and fundamental freedoms.” He was protected by Kenya’s 2010 Constitution because he entered the country legally. However, he was kidnapped, held in solitary confinement, tortured, and forcibly transferred from Kenya without obeying the law.”
The court also determined that Kanu’s abduction, incommunicado confinement, and withholding of food, drink, and medication were gross violations of his constitutional rights. It also determined that his coercive deportation to Nigeria violated Kenyan law and international legal standards.
In a statement issued on Friday by IPOB’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the group described the decision as a’resounding judicial earthquake’ that vindicates its long-held position on Kanu’s illegal rendition.
IPOB accused the Nigerian and Kenyan governments of arranging a ‘criminal act of state-sponsored international terrorism’ and promised to seek worldwide accountability for those responsible.
The group stressed that Kanu’s rendition was not an extradition, but rather a ‘extraordinary rendition’ involving coordination between Nigerian and Kenyan security agents.
“He was abducted in broad daylight at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, chained, tortured, and flown illegally to Abuja without any extradition hearing or judicial warrant,” according to the declaration.
The organization also thanked Professor PLO Lumumba, the lead attorney in the Kenyan litigation, and Justice Mwita for their “courage, clarity, and tenacity” in delivering the ruling.
“This verdict places a permanent legal stain on the records of former presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, as well as their accomplices,” according to the statement.
IPOB has warned that the judgment is the start of a global crusade to hold all culprits accountable.
“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,” according to the statement.