The British government says the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu was not arrested in the United Kingdom.
Mr Kanu, who has been wanted in Nigeria after jumping bail in 2017, is a dual citizen of Nigeria and the UK.
Following his arrest on Sunday, June 27, spokesman of the British High Commission in Nigeria Dean Hurlock told PUNCH on Tuesday that Kanu was not arrested in the UK.
“We are aware of reports that Nnamdi Kanu has been detained in Nigeria by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“We can confirm that Nnamdi Kanu was not arrested in the UK for extradition purposes,” he said.
The newspaper gathered that Kanu was arrested by the International Criminal Police while seeking foreign support for the actualisation of the Republic of Biafra.
Kanu went missing after soldiers invaded his county home in Abia State in 2017, allegedly killing scores of IPOB members.
The newspaper learnt that Kanu was allegedly apprehended while leaving Israel for an unknown country.
The source it quoted said President Muhammadu Buhari mentioned Kanu’s tweets for “his loyalists to kill Nigerian soldiers and police officers” as part of justification for the arrest.
“The request for the arrest of Kanu was made to the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, about two months ago. Kanu could not be arrested at his London base because he is a British citizen and repatriating him to Nigeria may be challenging and the process cumbersome.
“So, the security agencies waited patiently for him to leave the British soil before moving against him; he was arrested while on transit. There was evidence of his meetings with foreign governments to solicit support for Biafra,” the source said.- Punch