U.K. seeks status of 'missing' Biafra leader from Nigeria govt

The United Kingdom (U.K.) has asked the Nigerian government to clarify the whereabout and status of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The 50-year-old Nigerian also holds British citizenship and has been declared missing since mid September when IPOB and security officials clashed at his family home in Umuahia located in the south east Abia State.

The U.K. High Commission in Nigeria confirmed having asked the government about the whereabout of Kanu. The press officer, Joe Abuku, was responding to a request for information by local media portal, the PUNCH.

“We are seeking urgent clarification from the Nigerian authorities about the status and whereabout of Mr. Kanu, a British – Nigerian man, who has been reported missing since September 14.”

“One of the conditions that can make the United Kingdom strip its citizen of nationality is if the person engages in a terrorist activity at home or abroad. And Kanu has dual citizenship and therefore a citizen of Nigeria and the U.K.,” Abuku stressed.

He confirmed that the U.K. did not see IPOB as a proscribed entity despite the Nigerian government having secured a court order to that effect. The United States had also last week refused to label IPOB a terrorist organization despite the court order.