Kenyan Lawyer To Nigerian Terrorist Michael Adebolajo Speaks Out, Blames UK Govt For Attack
https://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/05/kenyan-lawyer-to-nigerian-terrorist.html
A Kenyan lawyer who in 2010 represented a man suspected of hacking a British soldier to death in London last week said on Wednesday the suspect was freed from arrest in Kenya three years ago on the recommendation of the British High Commission.
Britain's authorities face questions about what they knew about the activities of two Britons of Nigerian descent suspected of butchering Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old veteran of the Afghan war, in broad daylight in a London street.
The two men, one of whom, Michael Adebolajo, was arrested in Kenya in 2010 for allegedly trying to join an Islamist militant group, said they killed Rigby in the name of Islam. The killing has provoked an anti-Muslim backlash in multi-racial Britain.
Wycliffe Makasembo, who was the lawyer for Adebolajo at the time of his 2010 arrest in the tourist town of Lamu, said Kenyan anti-terrorism police detained him and six others when they tried to travel north to Somalia in a speedboat.
They were suspected of attempting to go to train with the al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group al Shabaab in Somalia, and were presented in a court in Mombasa, south of Lamu.
Makasembo told reporters that Kenyan police at the time sought more information about Adebolajo, a 28-year-old British-born convert from a Christian Nigerian family, from the British High Commission in Nairobi.
He added the British diplomatic mission replied in a letter to the police that "gave a clean bill of health that Michael Adebolajo had no criminal record or any connection with any criminal or terrorist organization in the world".
"Our own intelligence in Kenya were reluctant to release him, but it is the British High Commission which recommended that the suspect be released," Makasembo said, adding he had seen the letter at the time of the court appearance.
Adebolajo was deported back to Britain and the other six, all Kenyans, were also released without charge.
Asked about the Kenyan lawyer's remarks, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on Wednesday declined to comment on them specifically.
"We can confirm that a British national was arrested in Kenya in 2010 and the FCO provided consular assistance as normal for British nationals," the spokesman said.
Police shot and wounded Rigby's assailants at the scene of the crime in London.
The two men, one of whom, Michael Adebolajo, was arrested in Kenya in 2010 for allegedly trying to join an Islamist militant group, said they killed Rigby in the name of Islam. The killing has provoked an anti-Muslim backlash in multi-racial Britain.
Wycliffe Makasembo, who was the lawyer for Adebolajo at the time of his 2010 arrest in the tourist town of Lamu, said Kenyan anti-terrorism police detained him and six others when they tried to travel north to Somalia in a speedboat.
They were suspected of attempting to go to train with the al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group al Shabaab in Somalia, and were presented in a court in Mombasa, south of Lamu.
Makasembo told reporters that Kenyan police at the time sought more information about Adebolajo, a 28-year-old British-born convert from a Christian Nigerian family, from the British High Commission in Nairobi.
He added the British diplomatic mission replied in a letter to the police that "gave a clean bill of health that Michael Adebolajo had no criminal record or any connection with any criminal or terrorist organization in the world".
"Our own intelligence in Kenya were reluctant to release him, but it is the British High Commission which recommended that the suspect be released," Makasembo said, adding he had seen the letter at the time of the court appearance.
Adebolajo was deported back to Britain and the other six, all Kenyans, were also released without charge.
Asked about the Kenyan lawyer's remarks, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on Wednesday declined to comment on them specifically.
"We can confirm that a British national was arrested in Kenya in 2010 and the FCO provided consular assistance as normal for British nationals," the spokesman said.
Police shot and wounded Rigby's assailants at the scene of the crime in London.
