Nnamdi Kanu Appears in Court After Extradition to Nigeria

By Dipo Olowookere

Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Nnamdi Kanu, has been rearrested by the Nigerian government.

He was apprehended with the assistance of Interpol and extradited back to Nigeria on Sunday to face a trial bordering on terrorism.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, confirmed this development to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

He disclosed that Mr Kanu, who fled the country in 2017 after he was granted bail and his residence stormed by the Nigerian military, was nabbed after security agencies in Nigeria worked together with Interpol.

About a year after he left the country, he resurfaced in Israel and later went to the United Kingdom as he reportedly holds a British passport. He began to coordinate activities of IPOB from the UK until he was caught over the weekend.

This afternoon, he was re-arraigned before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja by the Department of State Service (DSS).

During the hearing, Justice Nyako ordered Mr Kanu, who was looking frail today, to be detained until July 26, 2021, for the continuation of the trial.

Mr Kanu got into trouble when he ordered his members to attack the assets of the Nigerian government. As a result, he is facing charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.