Kenyan President Has Not Asked Nigerian Government to Return Biafra Separatist Leader Nnamdi Kanu

31 March 2025
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Allwell Okpi

Kenyan president has not asked Nigerian government to return Biafra separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu

IN SHORT: Posts on Facebook claim that Kenyan president William Ruto has asked the Nigerian government to return the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra to Kenya. There is no evidence for this claim.

Kenyan president William Ruto has asked the Nigerian government to return the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), Nnamdi Kanu, to Kenya. That's according to a message doing the rounds on Facebook.

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It reads:

Breaking News: Kenyan President William Kipchirchir Has Requested for Nigeria to Return Nnamdi Kanu to Kenya immediately, Takes Case to World Court. For the first time, Kenya is taking legal action against Nigeria at the World Court over the case of Nnamdi Kanu. President William Kipchirchir has formally requested Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to return Nnamdi Kanu to Kenya, citing concerns over diplomatic security.The Kenyan president expressed fears that foreign diplomats now feel unsafe in his country, stating that if Nnamdi Kanu could be taken from Kenya in such a manner, the same could happen to anyone.President Kipchirchir emphasized that Nigeria's actions have severely damaged Kenya's international reputation. He vowed to pursue the case at the highest level to ensure justice and restore his country's image.

The same claim appears here, here, here, here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of the report.)

Kanu is facing charges bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony, among others, over his involvement in the agitation for the restoration of Biafra, a secessionist state that existed between 1967 and 1970.

He was arrested in October 2015 and released on bail in 2017. He then fled the country after the Nigerian military raided his home.

In June 2021, Kanu was rearrested in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria to continue his trial. He has remained in the Nigerian government's custody since then.

But has Ruto demanded that Kanu be returned to Kenya where the Nigerian government picked him up? We checked.

No evidence supports the claim

We found no evidence that Ruto made this request. There is no mention of Kanu or Biafra in Ruto's recent public communication.

There is also no evidence of diplomats in Kenya expressing security concerns due to Kanu's arrest and extradition from the East African country.

The posts say Kenya has instituted legal action against Nigeria at the "World Court", perhaps referring to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

But we found no case between Kenya and Nigeria on the ICJ's list of cases nor any related to Kanu's arrest and extradition. Such a case would have caught the media's attention.

NJC debunks a similar claim

Nigeria's National Judicial Council (NJC) has debunked a claim that the country's chief justice, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, said Kanu should be released and returned to Kenya where he was arrested.

A statement by the NJC's deputy director of information, Kemi Ogedengbe, described a media report that made that claim as false.

"There are no court proceedings, decisions or judgments where such statements ascribed to his lordship were made. The council categorically emphasises that the chief justice of Nigeria neither presided over any case of Kanu at the apex court, where jurisdiction issue was argued nor made any such pronouncement.

"The chief justice never wrote any formal letter to the Kenya government or Kenya high commission apologising on the issue of arrest of Nnamdi Kanu and trial. The council urges members of the public to disregard the fake story," the statement reads.

No evidence supports the claim that Ruto asked Nigeria to return Kanu to Kenya. It is false.

The false claim was also posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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