Nigerian leader Kanu Nnamdi has for the first time narrated his alleged torturous ordeal after being detained in Kenya.
Speaking in a 3-hour interview that was relayed to the press by his lawyer, Kanu noted that he was initially arrested on suspicion of being a Nigerian terrorist connected to Al Shabaab.
He noted that he was chained to the bare floor for eight days and was held incommunicado.
He further noted that the treatment was so cruel but was lessened after the people who had held him captive discovered that he was not a terrorist.
“The people that abducted him said that they were told by their sponsors that Kanu was a Nigerian terrorist linked to the Islamic terrorists in Kenya, presumably Al-Shabab.
“But after several days when they discovered his true identity, they tended to treat him less badly. Despite that, they told him they felt committed to hand him over to those that hired them,” Kanu's lawyer Aloy Ejimakor told Premium Times, a Nigerian publication.
Ejimakor noted that he was the only one allowed to visit the troubled leader who is detained at a facility of Nigeria’s secret police, the SSS, in Abuja.
Kanu told his lawyer that he was later flown back to the West African country as the lone passenger in a private jet bypassing all security checks at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
“He was blindfolded and driven to the tarmac very close to the plane without passing through the airport immigration. The plane departed Nairobi at about 12 p.m. and arrived Abuja in the evening.
“Kanu was flown to Abuja in the private jet on Sunday 27th June, 2021 from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi and that he was the lone passenger,” added the lawyer.
He also appeared to absolve the Kenyan Government from his torture explaining that he suspects that the team which handled him was commission by Nigeria and local state was not involved and did not have knowledge of what transpired.
On Tuesday, July 13, the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) based in Geneva released an official statement on the role Kenya played in the arrest and repatriation of Nigerian Leader Nnamdi Kanu.
IHRC declared that its independent investigations into the matter found out that Kenya did not violate any human rights in the events that led to the arrest of Kanu.
Nnamdi Kanu grabbed international news on Tuesday, June 29, after he was presented at a Nigerian Court - four years after he fled the country.
Kanu's family threatened to sue Kenya for allegedly deporting Kanu.
