Bruce Fein, the international solicitor and spokesman for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will meet with the new British envoy to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, to discuss Kanu’s continued illegal detention and how to effect his “unconditional release” in accordance with the opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and numerous court rulings.
The letter dated 27 March stated, “I respectfully request an opportunity to meet with you in Abuja to explore avenues to secure Nigeria’s compliance with the Working Group’s order for Mr. Kanu’s immediate and unconditional release.
“The time is opportune because a change in the Nigerian government is imminent, and urgent because Mr. Kanu’s health is rapidly deteriorating.”
Mr. Fein congratulated the new British High Commissioner to Nigeria on his appointment but cautioned him not to be like his predecessor, Catriona Laing, whom he accused of treating Kanu’s case with indifference despite the fact that he is a British national.
He recalled that despite multiple court orders and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s recommendation that Kanu, a British national, be unconditionally released, Laing failed to exert pressure on the Nigerian government to comply with the orders.
“On July 20, 2022, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an Opinion concluding that the detention of Mr. Kanu violated sixteen (16) international human rights covenants.
The Working Group ordered his “immediate and unconditional” release as well as the payment of restitution. The Nigerian government is still in violation of the Working Group’s order more than eight months after it was issued.
“Instead of confronting the Government of Nigeria with its legal obligation to immediately release a British citizen, your predecessor chose to waste time.
“In fact, she relied on the lawless Fulani-controlled government and Biafran quislings in the southeast to accept Orwellian propaganda about Nnamdi Kanu and Biafra,” the author writes.
Fein challenged the British government to seek justice for oppressed individuals who are not even American citizens.
“Compare her feeble defence of a wrongfully accused and detained British citizen found innocent by an impartial international tribunal to the robust efforts of the United States to secure the release of permanent resident and Hotel Rwanda director Paul Rusesabagina from Rwandan prison.
Mr. Rusesabagina was convicted in a Rwandan court of providing financial support to violent Rwandan rebels. On March 24, 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan exerted relentless pressure on Rwandan President Paul Kagame to secure a commutation of sentence.
“Why is the United Kingdom refusing to follow the United States’ commendable example in regards to Nnamdi Kanu? Great nations are made of sterner material.”
The American attorney accused Britain of orchestrating the ethnic strife in Nigeria due to the lopsided political system she bequeathed to the nation upon its independence.
In addition, he urged the United Kingdom to do more to restore the rule of law and justice in the country, arguing that it is insufficient to return Nigeria’s stolen artefacts while ignoring her citizens’ right to self-determination.
Since attaining independence from British colonial rule in 1960, Nigeria has faced challenges as a nation. The United Kingdom has attempted to make amends for its participation in the racist scramble for Africa by returning looted artefacts from Benin City that were stolen by British soldiers.
