UK asks Nigeria to explain circumstances of separatist's arrest

FILE PHOTO: Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu is seen at the Federal high court Abuja, Nigeria January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has asked Nigeria to explain where and how Nnamdi Kanu, a separatist leader who holds British citizenship, was arrested after Kanu's lawyer alleged he had been detained and mistreated in Kenya before being sent back to Nigeria.

Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group which wants part of southeastern Nigeria to secede, was on the run outside Nigeria for four years until he was brought to court in Abuja on June 29 and told he would face trial.