A fresh legal twist has emerged in the long-running case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), as his United States-based attorney, Bruce Fein, has formally petitioned Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss all charges against his client. Fein’s letter, dated 28 October 2025, challenges the court’s jurisdiction on the grounds of what he describes as “unlawful rendition” from Kenya.
Fein’s argument hinges on the principle that a government cannot benefit from its own wrongdoing. “No government should profit from its own criminality; that has been binding law from time immemorial,” he wrote, invoking the 1928 opinion of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis in Olmstead v. United States.
The letter, titled Dismissal of Prosecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for Lack of Jurisdiction, draws heavily on findings by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which in July 2022 called for Kanu’s “immediate and unconditional release”.
Paragraph 107 of the UN opinion reportedly concluded that Kanu’s arrest and transfer to Nigeria violated international law, citing acts of “kidnapping, torture, and extraordinary rendition.”
Fein’s submission also references rulings from Nigerian courts that have acknowledged irregularities in the process that led to Kanu’s return from Kenya in June 2021. The IPOB leader was reportedly intercepted in Nairobi and flown to Nigeria under circumstances that have sparked global concern and diplomatic scrutiny.
Legal experts have long debated the implications of extraordinary rendition a practice where suspects are forcibly transferred across borders without due process. While Fein’s letter does not cite Nigerian legal precedents directly, it warns that continued prosecution could expose the judiciary to international legal consequences.
“Ignoring these violations could implicate the court itself before the International Criminal Court,” he cautioned.
The Federal Government has yet to respond formally to the letter, but previous court proceedings have seen the dismissal of Kanu’s no-case submission, a move Fein described as “a betrayal of legal and moral principles”.
This latest development adds to a growing list of legal manoeuvres surrounding Kanu’s trial, which includes fresh suits filed by the IPOB leader seeking termination of proceedings and plans to call witnesses from Kenya, Ethiopia, and other countries.
