Frederick Forsyth seeks Nigeria’s suspension for breaking international law
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Frederick Forsyth – British journalist, best-selling author, and political commentator – who covered the Nigerian Civil War for the BBC, has sought the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations over the continued detention of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Forsyth, now 84, has a long history of interest in the Biafran cause.
When the BBC deemphasised reporting the war and asked Forsyth to return to base in London after the first six months, he resigned and retuned to Nigeria to cover it as a freelance journalist. He wrote a book on the war in 1969, titled The Biafra Story.
Forsyth has just written an article published on Express.co.uk in which he expressed angst over the docility of the UK government concerning the plight of Kanu, a British citizen.
He argued if London could be so passive about the ordeal of one British citizen being humiliated and tortured abroad, anyone else holding British passport could suffer a similar fate.
“Nnamdi Kanu, a British national, is being held in Nigeria and his family says he is in failing health, denied all medical help and regularly beaten up,” Forsyth wrote.
The author of The Day of Jacal, Dogs of War, among other best sellers, insisted Nigeria should be compelled to not only release, but return Kanu to Britain where his family resides.
He cited a couple of ways the British government could have exerted pressure on Nigeria to comply with court judgments ordering the unconditional release of Kanu.
“There are two effective recourses in front of us if our bureaucrats on the cocktail circuit could rise from their amply funded buttocks.
“One is to raise Cain and, given the huge sums in aid that we plunge into Nigeria via the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, that Cain could be very worrying indeed to their High Commission in London, which has access to its own government at the highest level.
“The other is to raise, via the Commonwealth Secretariat under Baroness Scotland, the whole question, bearing in mind the horrors of brutality now taking place not just in Eastern Nigeria but right across the country amid universal corruption, of the very issue of that country’s continued membership of the worldwide organisation.
“After all, the Commonwealth once ended the membership of South Africa, Pakistan and Fiji for a lot less than is presently going on in Nigeria – of which the plight of Nnamdi Kanu is a tiny particle.”
Forsyth began the article recounting that:
“A few days ago, I had never heard of Nnamdi Kanu and the chances are neither had you. So… briefly. He is 55 and was born and raised in Nigeria; specifically eastern Nigeria which was then involved in a civil war with the Federal Government in Lagos.
“The issue then was the desire of his Igbo people, the majority in eastern Nigeria, to separate as a new republic of Biafra. It was defeated and re-absorbed but in adulthood, this has become his life’s cause – the re-creation of the vanished Biafra.
“So far, so remote from all of us. But he is now and has been for many years a British citizen, his family home is in south London, and that, as for all of us, accords certain rights and protections.
“One of these is the Consular service which is supposed to do all it can to help us if we ever get into any form of trouble abroad. Several times in my life, I have felt that stiff blue passport in my breast pocket a very comforting bulge.
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Related articles:
Kanu sues fed govt, seeks N50.10b for his abduction
Kenya’s court filings confirm Nigeria abducted Nnamdi Kanu
Court declines request seeking DSS DG to testify on Nnamdi Kanu’s health
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Kanu’s agitation similar to that of Scotland
“Whether his ambition for a separate state for his ethnic homeland is a pipe dream or not, his writing, speaking and militating for his cause is or should be, no more illegal than what the SNP is doing up in Scotland and Nigeria is a leading member of the Commonwealth, a privilege that forbids membership to dictatorships on pain of expulsion” Forsyth added, per Vanguard.
“But two years ago Nnamdi was snatched in Nairobi by the pretty horrifying Nigerian secret police, hustled to the airport with the seeming connivance of the Kenyans, and flown to Nigeria. Since then he has been in an underground cell in the capital Abuja.
“As such he is a few hundred yards from our High Commission which contains the Consular department. Reports from his family say he is in failing health, denied all medical help and regularly beaten up.
“Given the savage record of Nigeria’s secret police, no surprises there then. According to my information, he has been twice visited by British officials who have made ‘representations’.
“Apparently just representations. But I am also advised that British concerns are to the Nigerians as worrying as a bothersome housefly. His lodged appeal to the Nigerian Supreme Court hovers somewhere in the stratosphere.”
Kanu has remained in solitary confinement at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021 after his “abduction” in Kenya and extraordinarily rendition to Nigeria.
His detention is despite several court orders and the opinion of the United Nations that he should be released unconditionally and returned to Kenya where he was arrested or to London where he resided.
Kanu travelled with a British passport to Kenya before his “abduction” and rendition to Nigeria.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ruled that his rendition violated all known international protocols and he should be released.
Ohanaeze says Kanu’s release is key to peace in South East
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has also called on Aso Rock to release Kanu to restore peace in the South East, according to reporting by Vanguard.
The plea was made during the inauguration of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Women and Youth Wings (Federal Capital Territory chapter) in Abuja.
“What South East needs is security, a secure environment and even if you appoint 100 service chiefs without the release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, you wouldn’t have peace,” said Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide President Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who was represented by Charles Nwekeaku, a Professor.
“His [Kanu’s] release is central and fundamental to the peace mechanism in Igbo land.”
South East conducive for business
Iwuanyanwu urged President Bola Tinubu to obey the Appeal Court judgment which discharged and acquitted Kanu.
“The moment Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is released, there will be peace in Igbo land and the Igbos will have that sense of belonging because he is a freedom fighter and hasn’t committed any crime.
Former Anambra Governor now Igbo Elders Consultative Forum Chairman, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, stressed the South East is safe and conducive for business, and urged diaspora Igbos to invest in their homeland.
“This is the time for our people that are still in the diaspora; Igbo land is quite conducive for investment and so they should come home to invest.”
