Leaked details revealed how Nigerian Biafra leader Nnamdi Kanu was reportedly arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Reports alleged that Kanu arrived in Kenya from Germany through Israel on Saturday night, June 26 and was held for hours till Sunday, June 27.
Sources privy to the developments alleged that officials from the Nigerian High Commission requested Kenya to detain the fugitive and further deport him back to Nigeria. The Insiders further claimed that it was a combined covert operation by Kenyan and Nigerian officials
Kanu was first held at a private location at JKIA as immigration officials scrutinised his documents - part of a sting operation to cause delay - before handing him over to the police.
"He was nabbed and held for some hours as the authorities tried to address an immigration issue which was described as minor.
"Moments later he was handed over to Nigerian authorities,” the source claimed.
His lawyer, E.R Okoroa castigated Kenya lamenting that Kanu was in the country as a British national and not Nigerian since he was using a British passport.
Kanu is reported to be the leader of an outlawed group that calls for the independence of Biafra from Nigeria.
Nigeria had first alleged that he was arrested in the UK. However, British officials denied that Kanu was in the UK and offered to support him in the case and to track his arrest and whereabouts. His family were first to raise concerns over his arrest, threatening to sue Kenya.
Kenya's Director General of Immigration Services Alexander Muteshi refuted claims that the Biafran leader was apprehended in Kenya.
"I don't know that. I am not in the picture of his presence in the country. I am only able to tell if somebody entered the country legally," Muteshi played cagey.
Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna also declined to be roped into the matter and referred the case to the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Interior led by CS Fred Matiang'i.
On Thursday, July 1, Foreign Affairs PS Kamau Macharia told Kenyans.co.ke that there was no evidence that Kanu was in the country at the time of his alleged arrest.
