The United Kingdom has spoken following the refusal of the Department of State Services to allow consular access to the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Lawyer Aloy Ejimakor said on Monday that the DSS stopped Kanu from signing papers from the UK.
The Head of Communications, British High Commission in Abuja, Dean Hurlock, said: “The UK has requested consular access to Kanu from the Nigerian government.
“We stand ready to provide consular assistance to Kanu and his family in the UK.”
Ejimakor, in a statement, said Kanu was prevented from signing the forms from the UK consular.
He said the forms were to affirm his consent to consular and diplomatic interventions by the United Kingdom and its High Commission in Nigeria.
He said the forms were returned to him unsigned when he visited his client last Saturday.
He said the DSS also returned some Jewish prayer books and clothing that were taken to Kanu.
He said he had to be the one to make the request through a certain department at the DSS that officially caters to his needs.
Ejimakor said blocking Kanu from signing the forms would not confer any legal advantage on the Federal Government on the case.
He added: “Instead of any advantage, the refusal will help fuel the notion that the government of Nigeria is deliberately isolating Kanu from having consular and diplomatic access to the United Kingdom.
“It does not comport with the best traditions of fundamental fairness that a detainee is being denied access to resources that will assist him in his defence.
“This is one of the things that will count in our reckoning as this matter continues to unfold.
“For these reasons, I am now compelled to call on the British High Commission in Nigeria to banish every red tape and exert the full weight of its diplomatic clout in gaining immediate access to Kanu.”
