Charles Ajunwa in Lagos and Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The British Government yesterday refused to categorically accept or deny allegations that it assisted the leader of proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, with another passport after he escaped from Nigeria.

Kanu was first arrested in Nigeria on October 14, 2015, following campaigns for the Sovereign State of Biafra and arraigned for treason. He was granted bail in April 2017 but fled the country. The IPOB leader was rearrested last Sunday in an unnamed country and returned to court to continue his trial.

THISDAY, in a series of email exchanges with the British High Commission in Abuja, had requested clarifications on how the IPOB leader obtained fresh British passport.

In the most recent email, THISDAY enquired: “We need some further clarification, please. Are you saying the British government did not assist Mr. Nnamdi Kanu in procuring a new British passport? The information we have is that after escaping from Nigeria through the land borders, the British government assisted him in procuring another passport in the High Commission of one of our neighbouring countries, knowing at the time he was a fugitive running away from justice in Nigeria. Do you categorically deny the British government involvement in this? In relation to (b), are you implying that since Mr. Kanu’s trial was not in a British court, you do not reckon with the Nigerian court which impounded his passports?”

In reaction, the High Commission said in order to respond to the question, it would need to send the email to “London” because “it does not specially relate to the British High Commission in Nigeria unlike the question you clarified yesterday and which we have answered.”

Dean Hurlock of the British High Commission, after referring the enquiry to “London”, sent the reply yesterday and it read: “We are seeking clarification about the circumstances of the arrest from the Nigerian government. Our policy on issuing passports to those who are entitled to them is clear and publicly available; we are not going to discuss any individual case.”

Of course, the reply did not address the issues raised by THISDAY. Kanu could not have obtained a new British passport without the approval of the British Government.

In the earlier email, THISDAY enquired from the British High Commission: “The specific allegation we want addressed is whether the British High Commission assisted Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, whose Nigerian and British passports had been impounded by an Abuja court, in jumping bail by issuing him another British passport which he used to travel out of Nigeria and had been using to travel until his re-arrest. How could Kanu have acquired another British travel document in Nigeria without processing it at your High Commission?”

Jonathan Bacon of the British High Commission replied saying the question refers explicitly to British High Commission and that his response earlier directly addressed this allegation: “We can confirm that the British High Commission in Nigeria did not issue any travel documents for Mr Kanu. We therefore reaffirm the categorical denial sent to you yesterday. Your question (b) referred to London, hence my reply yesterday at 17:23 to say that I needed to ask London for a view on the question, and that given the time the email was sent, I might not receive a reply until the morning.”

LLiKYekoba:
Kanu is a mystery and an enigma.

thebosstrevor1:


Yet was bounded like a common criminal and put in a dungeon in Nigeria

What an enigma

LLiKYekoba:


Even in the dungeon, he remains an enigma and a mystery you can't solve.

LLiKYekoba:


Even in the dungeon, he remains an enigma and a mystery you can't solve.

thebosstrevor1:


Yet was bounded like a common criminal and put in a dungeon in Nigeria

What an enigma

OssyMalik:
even in prison, he’s far better than you in all ramifications


Zombie

thebosstrevor1:


I am a free man

thebosstrevor1:


I am a free man

I am not the claiming torture for 8 days even though i twitted before my arrest.

I am not the one claiming hunger

I am not the one in a dungeon

CilicMarin:
This makes the likelihood Kanu making it out of prison in one piece highly impossible...

He would rot in Jail..

thebosstrevor1:


Yeah, mystery in Nigerian dungeon.

Can a mysterious person be caught like a common criminal?

LLiKYekoba:


Mandela, Lumumba, Luther King, Ghandi et al...were all enigmas too.

thebosstrevor1:


Yeah, they were in their land fighting the fight and not traveling all over the world in designers clothes or dinning in 5 stars hotels

thebosstrevor1:


Yeah, they were in their land fighting the fight and not traveling all over the world in designers clothes or dinning in 5 stars hotels

LLiKYekoba:


Mandela for example travelled out of South Africa during his struggle and he wasn't wearing babariga while he fought for his people.

thebosstrevor1:


Mandela is called a terrorist by some white south Africans because he planted bombs on railway tracks.

Mandela carried arms and was trained in angola and sponsored by libya.

Nnamdi lives in London, wears designers cloth, drink fine wine and sleeps in 5 star hotels, also flies private jets, is that the life of a freedom fighter

LLiKYekoba:


Allow those who love Kanu to worry about what he wear, whether rags or designers. He will not wear your babariga and drive a 500 million naira bike like Yusuf Buhari the son of 'Mr I have-no-money-to-buy-APC-form.

He is a 21st century freedom activist with his LIFE constantly on the line and deserves every 'enjoyment' he gets. He makes sacrifices that not many can. Fighting a fulani terrorist government controlling multi-million dollar oil resources is not CHEAP.

thebosstrevor1:

NNAMDI KANU IS A SCAM

LLiKYekoba:


Your opinion is irrelevant anyway as a fulani. Millions who already buy what he sells do not really care about your opinion and I'm sure you already know that.

thebosstrevor1:


That is because they are brainwashed.

You can't stop brainwashed people, it is a waste of time, even if you show them the truth, they will attack and kill you, there is no cure for them.

LLiKYekoba:


You call it 'Brainwashed' because his principles leave a bitter taste in your mouth as fulani.
They call it 'Facts' as everything he says packs a punch of 'truism' that are difficult to debunk.
Different strokes.