British schoolboy held in Nigeria due for release

A British schoolboy held captive for a month by the military government in Nigeria was due to be released last night. John-Paul Mokulou, 13, who lives in London with his mother, was arrested while visiting his father and other relatives in the west African state.

Security forces raided the house he was visiting in Lagos on 23 April, apparently to seize his father, who is believed to be a cousin of the imprisoned former president Major-General Olusegun Obasanjo.

John-Paul was kept under arrest in a security service building on the outskirts of Lagos. British diplomats at first reported that he was not being held captive, but after intervention by Glenda Jackson, the boy's MP, they made fresh attempts to locate him.

Nigeria was suspended from membership of the Commonwealth in November and sanctions were imposed following the hanging of human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others from the Ogoni tribe.