Deprtation Row between Nigeria & Kenya:''Give us back our countrymen'' Kenya pleads.

Anthony Chinedu

Seven Kenyan officials and five airline crew member have been in detention in Nigeria for the past two weeks, since their arrival in Nigeria on a bid  to deport Nigerian businessman Anthony Chinedu and others who were flown into the country on a private chartered jet (East Africa Safari Express Airline).

The Kenyans and one Swedish national are said to be held at the Park View Astoria in Ikoyi.
According to the detainees, Nigerian authorities have insisted the Kenyans will not be allowed to fly out without the three men Kenya kicked out on drug trafficking claims.

Anthony Chinedu has lived in Kenya as a businessman for the past 18 years. He has been embroiled in a tussle over control of property with his estranged Kenyan wife Joyce Akinyi. The Kenyan government deported him on the grounds that he was involved in “dirty business”

Attempts by Kenyan embassy officials in Nigeria and owners of the plane to get the Kenyans released has been brushed off by Nigerian authorities.

Chinedu has claimed to be behind their detention saying they will only be released after he is paid the value of the investments he has in Kenya. Chinedu said “when you catch a mad man is when you know a mad man has a mother,a mad man has a father.”
The detention of the Kenyan officials and crew of the plane used for Chinedu’s deportation is a huge blow to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive that all foreign drug dealers be removed from Kenya with immediate effect.
The saddest thing is, the State has ruled out talks with Chinedu but will however intensify diplomatic talks with Nigerian authorities.
According to Chinedu, over 20 Nigerians have been deported shortly after President Uhuru’s Kenyatta’s directive and more are still waiting deportation in their detention camps. These are people that own huge properties and strong assets running into millions of dollars.