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The leader of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu (centre) at the Federal High Court in Abuja on February 9, 2016.
In August 2023, officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Department of Immigration visited the residence of Ms Patricia Achieng' in Nairobi and picked up her husband, Mr Olajide Ekunpa, a Nigerian national.
According to Ms Achieng’, the officers took him to Muthaiga Police Station, where he was detained without being told the reason for his arrest.
At the station, officers allegedly ordered Mr Ekunpa to book a flight back to Nigeria, threatening to continue holding him if he failed to comply.
Fearing prolonged detention, Mr Ekunpa bought the ticket and was escorted directly from the police station to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), where he boarded a flight back to his home country.
Following the deportation, Ms Achieng’ and her two children, both minors, sued the government on their own behalf and on behalf of Mr Ekunpa, claiming violations of their rights and fundamental freedoms.
She stated that Ms Achieng’ and Mr Ekunpa had been legally married since 2015 and had two children. At the time of his arrest and detention, she said, Mr Ekunpa was in the country legally, with a valid entry permit and all necessary documentation issued by Kenyan authorities.
Awarded Sh3 million
In a recent ruling, the High Court awarded the family a total of Sh3 million in compensatory damages, finding that Mr Ekunpa had been removed from the country unlawfully.
“The respondents’ action of unjustifiable removal of Mr Ekunpa from Kenya negatively affected the petitioners’ rights under articles 45 and 53 of the Constitution since the first petitioner’s (Ms Achieng) rights are curtailed while those of the second and third petitioners (children) to fatherly care and protection were violated and denied,” said Justice Chacha Mwita. Mr Ekunpa is among several foreign nationals who have either been illegally deported, killed or had their rights violated by police — and have since won compensation from the courts, placing increasing financial pressure on the State.
Justice Chacha Mwita.
In another recent case also involving a Nigerian national, Mr Nwannekaenvi Nnamdi Kenny Okwu-Kanu, the court ordered the Kenyan government to pay Sh10 million for his illegal abduction and deportation.
Mr Kanu, the leader of a Nigerian secessionist group advocating for the independence of the Biafra region, was awarded damages in a judgment delivered on July 10, 2025.
Justice Mwita found that the Kenyan government had violated Mr Kanu’s rights by allowing his unlawful arrest and removal from the country.
Mr Kanu, a dual British-Nigerian citizen, had flown into Kenya from Kigali, Rwanda, on an East African tourist visa. He was living in Nairobi’s Kilimani area and was arrested on June 19, 2021, at the JKIA. He had fled Nigeria in 2017 while out on bail for terrorism and incitement charges, following a military raid that killed several members of his group.
His brother testified that the Kenyan authorities flouted the Extradition (Contiguous and Foreign Countries) Act.
Mr Kanu was not shown a warrant of arrest, was denied legal counsel and contact with family and was not given a chance to challenge the lawfulness of his detention.
He was also never declared a prohibited immigrant in Kenya.
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of a Biafra group that has been calling for secession.
The court heard that he was held incommunicado for eight days in Nairobi, and was denied access to hygiene, food, clean water and medication for his hypertension and heart condition. The judge found the government liable for multiple violations, including abduction, solitary confinement, torture and the denial of food and medical care.
Last week, the Court of Appeal also upheld a compensation award of Sh10 million in favour of Ms Javeria Siddique, the widow of Pakistani TV journalist Arshad Sharif, who was fatally shot by police in at Tinga Market along Magadi Road in Kajiado County on October 23, 2022.
Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif with his wife Javeria Siddique. The Court of Appeal has upheld an order for the government to pay the family Sh10 million in compensation for the journalist's fatal shooting by Kenyan police.
Sharif had been living in Kenya in self-exile for two months.
The court ruled that the police had violated his right to life, dignity and equal protection under the law. Ms Siddique was supported in court by the Kenya Union of Journalists and the Kenya Correspondents Association. She had originally sought Sh250 million in damages.
In a separate case, Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled in favour of Mr Wang Limin, a Chinese businessman who faced arbitrary arrest and a threatened deportation in June 2021. The court awarded him Sh800,000 in damages for violations of his rights, including unlawful arrest and detention.
Mr Limin, a director at Wawanga (K) Trader Company Limited, said his deportation was due to business rivalry. He was detained for seven days before being shown a deportation order dated November 1, 2019 which he had never previously seen.
Officers from the DCI and Immigration Department reportedly tried to force him to buy a ticket to China, warning he would be deported as an illegal immigrant. He resisted, was held incommunicado, and successfully sued to block the deportation.
Further legal trouble looms for the State following the filing of a suit by Ugandan Opposition leader Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye and political activist Hajj Obeid Lutale. They allege unlawful arrest by Kenyan authorities and forced extradition from Nairobi to Kampala.
Uganda’s opposition honcho and retired army doctor Colonel Kizza Besigye.
They are seeking punitive, exemplary, and general damages of an undisclosed amount, claiming that Kenyan authorities failed to follow proper extradition procedures, including obtaining a magistrate’s warrant and clearance from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
They also allege that Kenya’s actions enabled rights violations by Ugandan security agencies, including incommunicado detention at a military barracks.
