Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, says he is happy separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu was repatriated back to Nigeria.

“I was very happy for two reasons. First the man was on trial and he jumped bail, that in itself is a crime and no legal system should accept that,” Mr El Rufai said.

The Kaduna governor made these comments in an interview with BBC Pidgin on Friday where he noted that the arrest serves as a deterrent to those challenging the authority of the Nigerian state.

“He has violated several laws of Nigeria and it was proper that the federal government followed the processes and used the Interpol red flag system to bring him to justice. He should be brought to justice, he should have his day in court if he’s guilty fine, if he is not, he has insulted us for nothing and we will live with it,” Mr El-Rufai said.

 Mr El-Rufai accused Mr Kanu of challenging the authority of the Nigerian state by instigating the killing of other ethnic groups and calling on people to burn police stations, attacking prisons and releasing prisoners.

“How can you sit in the comfort of another country and be encouraging the killing of citizens? Encouraging the likelihood of your own backyard to be a battle ground who does that? 

“If you are smart, you take battles to other places, you don’t invite war to your own people this is what Nnamdi Kanu is doing,“ Mr El-Rufai said.

“He has insulted me so many times but that’s ok, we are leaders, so we have to be insulted even by scallywags like Nnamdi Kanu,” he added .