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The antheral captus, bene detentus regularisation is an aged rule of instrumentality that gained prominence successful the 19th Century crossed the United States of America (USA) and immoderate European countries. The rule, which translates arsenic ‘wrongly captured, legally detained’, seeks to equilibrium the request for owed process with the imperative of ensuring justness for everyone progressive successful a transgression disputation. It aims to guarantee that a defendant, particularly 1 accused of sedate crimes, is not allowed to evade prosecution solely due to the fact that the process of their arrest, detention oregon beingness successful tribunal was flawed.
Nnamdi Kanu came to nationalist attraction towards the extremity of 2014 erstwhile helium formed the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an organisation dedicated to forcing the secession of the Igbo radical from Nigeria. Before helium formed IPOB, Kanu was a lieutenant of Ralph Uwazurike, different Igbo agitator, who had antecedently formed the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
Matters yet inevitably came to a caput successful October 2015 erstwhile the authorities of erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari arrested and charged Kanu with coercion related offences. He was kept successful custody until 2017, erstwhile helium was admitted to bail with stringent conditions. However, soon aft helium was granted bail, Kanu fled from Nigeria, claiming his beingness was successful information due to the fact that of a subject cognition conducted by members of Nigeria information work successful his colony during which his household location was ransacked. Kanu claimed helium had to permission Nigeria due to the fact that the subject cognition targeted him for annihilation. In 2019 his bail was revoked having repeatedly failed to contiguous himself successful Court for continuation of his proceedings and helium was declared wanted.
Kanu was successful exile from 2017, traveling crossed antithetic continents, until the 19th of June 2021 erstwhile helium was reportedly abducted successful Nairobi by agents of the Government of Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria wherever helium was subsequently re-arraigned to proceed his aborted trial.
Upon his re-arraignment successful 2021, Kanu filed a preliminary objection to his proceedings connected the crushed that, amongst others, his bonzer rendition to Nigeria has robbed the Nigerian courts of jurisdiction to effort him. The precocious tribunal dismissed his claim. Dissatisfied, Kanu filed an entreaty to the Court of Appeal which recovered successful his favour and held that the bonzer rendition of Kanu to Nigeria efficaciously deprived courts successful the state jurisdiction to effort him. The charges against him were accordingly discharged by the Court.
The Nigerian authorities appealed Kanu’s discharge and successful the judgement of the Supreme Court (SC) dated 15 December 2023, the SC reversed the Court of Appeal judgment, directing that Kanu should look his trial. In the said SC judgement (Federal Republic of Nigeria V. Nnamdi Kanu- (2024) 11 NWLR (Pt. 1949) 231), the SC gave respective compelling explanations for its determination connected the substance successful a mode that ought to person enactment the contented to bed.
However, astatine the decision of the prosecution’s lawsuit against Kanu successful July this year, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), Kanu’s pb defence counsel, made a nary lawsuit submission and invited the tribunal to discharge Kanu of each the charges. Chief Agabi stated that the grounds adduced by the prosecution, taken astatine its highest, has not discharged the load placed connected the prosecution to beryllium the indispensable elements of the charges against Kanu. In addition, the Learned Silk argued that the information that Kanu was extraordinarily rendered to Nigeria has ipso facto nullified the Nigeria’s tribunal jurisdiction to prosecute him.
On Friday 26 September 2025, Hon Justice JK Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, dismissed Kanu’s nary lawsuit exertion and held that helium does person a lawsuit to reply and should proceed to support the charges against him. However, His Lordship declined to spell into the details of the bonzer rendition constituent of the defence argument, stating nary grounds of specified was placed earlier his court.
This writer intends to marque the argument, utilizing the antheral captus, bene detentus rule, that it is successful the nationalist involvement that the lawsuit against Nnamdi Kanu proceeds to proceedings contempt the manifest irregularity of his repatriation to Nigeria.
But archetypal what is bonzer rendition?
There are respective but identical ineligible definitions for this concept, but we shall follow the explanation provided by brittanica.com which defines Extraordinary rendition arsenic the signifier of transferring a detainee to a overseas state for detention and interrogation, often bypassing the ineligible safeguards and quality rights protections that would different avail the detained idiosyncratic successful the transferring country. In immoderate instances, it whitethorn impact capturing an idiosyncratic of involvement successful a overseas state and transferring them to a 3rd state wherever they would beryllium interrogated without quality rights restraints.
Thus, bonzer ...
English (US) ·