The American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has urged the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Keir Starmer, to prevail on the Nigeria government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Since Kanu was clamped into detention three years ago, successive British governments of Conservatives did not show strong interest in Kanu’s case despite his British citizenship.
There has been no diplomatic, consular or legal representation from the British government to free Kanu even when such services were usually provided for its citizens detained abroad.
But AVID said that it has decided to bring Kanu’s ordeal to the attention of the new PM Starmer, b<span;>ecause of his “broad scope and depth of knowledge on global affairs as well as your willingness to bring transformational changes”.
“We bring to your notice the illegal extraordinary rendition of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, a political activist and British citizen by the Nigeria government from Nairobi Kenya to Nigeria,” the organisation wrote.
“Since 2021, Mr. Kanu has been on isolated detention in Nigeria Department of State Security Services (DSS) because he requested for referendum to create the Nation of Biafra out of the present-day Nigeria”.
AVID describes itself as “a not-for-profit Veteran entity composed of citizens of the United States of Igbo ancestry who honorably served or are currently serving in various branches of United States Armed Forces”.
The organization incorporated in the state of New Mexico, and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and “not affiliated to any political party at home or overseas”.
AVID pleaded for the intervention of the new British government in a congratulatory letter to Starmer dated July 19, 2024, signed by the President of AVID, Chief Sylvester Onyia, and Secretary, Dr. Godson Obiagwu.
“We need you to expedite a thorough review of this case and help release Nnamdi Kanu from Nigerian dungeon,” the group said, while congratulating Starmer on his emergence as PM following the July 5, 2024 UK general election.
AVID told the new PM of UK that there was no justifiable rwason ror Kanu to remain in detention, noting that as an organisation “knee-deep in support of democratic process everywhere, a call for referendum is not a call for war or violence”.
“We have high hope that you will set this British Citizen free from the clutches of cruel and inhumane treatment meted out to Mr. Kanu by the Nigeria government”.
AVID stressed the need for Starmer’s urgent intervention, saying that the detained IPOB leader “has significant health problems and he is not receiving adequate healthcare”.
The veterans stated that it has always been a tug of war for the DSS to allow Kanu access to medical care despite his health challenges.
They referenced the complaint of Mr. Aloy Ejimako, a special counsel for Nnamdi Kanu who wrote on X that “during our visitation with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, we found him ill, with shortness of breath, low BP and general malaise”.
The special counsel further stated that Kanu requested to see his doctor and “we submitted a letter in this regard”, adding that when the doctor arrived at the DSS facilty on July 16, 2024, he was “denied access to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu”.
The Igbo-American retired and serving military personnel have been at the vanguard of the clamour for Kanu’s unconditional release, desdribing him as a “prisoner of conscience”