The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), a group of retired and serving US military personnel of Igbo origin, has issued a stern warning to the British government, declaring it will be held accountable if Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu dies in custody.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, AVID President, Dr. Sylvester Onyia, accused Britain of abandoning Kanu — a dual British and Nigerian citizen — while actively enabling his prolonged detention and prosecution by the Nigerian government.
Kanu has been held since June 2021 after his arrest in Kenya and controversial rendition to Nigeria, where he faces terrorism-related charges. According to Onyia, Kanu’s health has deteriorated significantly in his four years in detention, and Britain’s failure to intervene amounts to complicity.
“If Kanu dies, Britain will not be an observer. It will be an accomplice,” Onyia warned, citing international laws such as Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which mandates the UK to provide medical assistance to its citizens.
The AVID leader accused Britain of “hiding behind diplomacy while enabling injustice,” alleging that London’s actions — including supplying what he described as “lies” to justify Kanu’s detention — have deepened the IPOB leader’s persecution.
He noted that after the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu, the British government downplayed the ruling by insisting “discharge is not acquittal,” a stance Onyia described as “fallacy” and proof of double standards.
Onyia further alleged that Kanu’s ethnicity is at the heart of Britain’s inaction:
“Britain would never accept this for a British citizen in Europe. But for an Igbo man in Nigeria, it is business as usual — because he challenged the artificial state Britain created in 1914.”
AVID also accused Britain of maintaining a post–Biafra war policy of marginalizing the Igbo people, and urged it to use Kanu’s case as proof of a break from that history.
The group issued a list of demands, including:
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Public condemnation of Kanu’s rendition.
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His immediate and unconditional release.
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A UK parliamentary inquiry into breaches of the Vienna Convention.
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An end to British diplomatic support for his detention.
Onyia concluded with a stark warning:
“Silence is not neutrality, it is complicity. If Nnamdi Kanu dies in detention, his blood will be on Britain’s hands. Igbos will remember. The world will remember.”
