The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has called on the United Kingdom (UK) to immediately initiate a diplomatic process to secure the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention in Nigeria for over four years.

Kanu, who was renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria on June 27, 2021, is currently facing charges in a Nigerian court.

Speaking at a world press conference in Abuja, AVID President, Dr. Sylvester Onyia, faulted Britain’s culture of silence even when its own citizens are being persecuted.

The group urged the United Kingdom to condemn the continued detention of the IPOB leader by the Nigerian government.

According to Onyia, Kanu’s plight “is an indictment, not only of Nigeria’s persecution but of Britain’s deliberate complicity in violating the UN Convention against Torture in Articles 5 to 7.

“Britain has abandoned its own citizens to torture, and history will remember. Four years of silence, four years of complicity.

“For over four years, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been detained after being abducted in Kenya on 27th June 2021.”

He added, “This was not an arrest. It was a kidnapping, violating Kenya’s sovereignty under Article 2, Subsection 4 of the UN Charter.

The African Charter was violated. The UN Convention against Torture was violated.

“As the UK Supreme Court ruled in Belhaj v. Straw 2017, rendition is a violation of international law and fundamental rights.

“Britain’s response to the question was a whisper for clarification. Britain’s silence is not golden. It is crimson with complicity. From Britain to today, the blood-red thread.”

Onyia alleged that Britain’s current stance mirrors its historical actions against the Igbo people.

“The silence continues Britain’s policy towards the Igbo, towards the Igbos from 1967 to 1970.

“You armed Nigeria and ignored the starvation of millions. Half a century later, that policy is unchanged. Britain’s betrayal of the Igbo did not end in 1970. It simply changed the uniform.

“In October 2021, British consular officials visited Kanu. Days later, Nigeria amended charges, dropping reference to London broadcasts.”

He dismissed Britain’s reliance on Kanu’s dual nationality as an excuse for inaction, stating Britain didn’t just look away; it helped script the persecution of migrants in Africa.

“Let’s get to the dual citizenship excuse. Britain claims he is also Nigerian, but ‘our hands are tied’. International law disagrees.”

Onyia further accused Britain of endorsing a travesty by allowing charges under repealed laws.

“But for an Igbo man in Africa, in Nigeria, it is business as usual. Protecting the colonial Frankenstein because Kanu challenged the artificial state Britain built in 1914.

“Because he’s an Igbo man and Britain’s record is one of suppression, Britain is still protecting the Frankenstein it built in 1914, even if it means destroying its own citizen,” Onyia declared.

He also criticised what he described as false interpretations of Kanu’s legal status following the Court of Appeal’s 2022 decision.

“The issue of discharge is not acquittal. That’s a lie. After the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu in 2022, Britain withheld. Discharge is not acquittal.

“Governments must uphold the rule of law. Unfortunately, Britain supplied a lie that keeps Kanu in chains.”

On Kanu’s health, Onyia cited legal obligations for intervention: “Under Article 12, ICESCR and Dixon v. UK, ECHR, 2007, Britain must intervene medically. Failure makes it complicit in death. If Kanu dies, Britain will not be an observer. It will be an accomplice.”

AVID is demanding that Britain publicly condemn the rendition and immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and also launch a parliamentary inquiry into Vienna Convention breaches and end diplomatic cover violating human rights obligations.

“A government that claims to defend human rights must start with its own citizens. If Britain claims to be a nation of law, it should act like it.

“Stop hiding behind selective morality. Silence is not neutrality; it is complicity.

“If Nnamdi Kanu dies in detention, his blood will be on Britain’s hands. Under Article 2, ECHR, the people will remember. The world will remember,” Onyia warned. (The Guardian)