Naija Blog — In a landmark judgment delivered on June 24, 2025, the High Court of Kenya at the Milimani Law Courts declared that the abduction and subsequent removal of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from Kenyan territory was illegal and unconstitutional. The court ruled that Kanu, a British citizen of Nigerian origin, was subjected to gross violations of his fundamental rights while on Kenyan soil.
The court found that Kanu lawfully entered Kenya on May 12, 2021, using an East African Tourist Visa issued in Kigali, Rwanda. He was reportedly staying in Nairobi and received medical treatment at the Nairobi Hospital before he mysteriously disappeared on June 19, 2021. According to affidavits presented by his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and other evidence, Kanu was abducted at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by agents believed to be linked to Nigerian security forces.
He was allegedly held incommunicado in a house in Nairobi, chained, tortured, and denied access to food, water, and necessary medication for eight days before being secretly flown to Abuja, Nigeria, on June 27, 2021. The respondents, including the Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Director of Immigration Services, Director of Criminal Investigations, Officer Commanding Police Division at JKIA, and the Attorney General of Kenya, denied any knowledge or involvement in the operation. However, the court found their denials implausible, given the high-security nature of JKIA and the absence of any lawful record of Kanu’s arrest or departure.
Justice E.C. Mwita, who presided over the case, ruled that the covert operation to remove Kanu was executed with the knowledge, complicity, and tacit approval of the Kenyan government. The judge emphasized that every person within Kenya’s territory, regardless of citizenship, is entitled to constitutional protection and due process, and that Kanu’s rights were “grossly violated.”
The court awarded general damages of Kshs. 10 million to Nnamdi Kanu as compensation for the violations he suffered and ordered the Attorney General of Kenya to pay both the compensation and the costs of the petition. The judgment also recognized the United Nations Human Rights Council’s position, which had previously condemned the act as extraordinary rendition and demanded Kanu’s unconditional release and reparations.
The ruling is widely seen as a major judicial rebuke of state-sanctioned impunity and a significant affirmation of constitutional rights and the rule of law in Kenya.
Download the Full Court Judgment on Nnamdi Kanu’s Case – PDF