Kelvin Bilal Fawaz, an amateur boxing champion who has fought in the England vest six times, has been arrested and locked in an immigration detention centre without crucial mental health medication.

Some of the biggest names in boxing have repeatedly appealed to the Home Office on Fawaz’s behalf. Frank Warren, the English boxing manager and promoter, wrote to the Home Office in 2014 praising Fawaz’s “exceptional talent".

Promoter and former boxing world champion Barry McGuigan said: “Kelvin has the capacity to go far: he’s already brought glory to England many times and could go even further for this country if he was allowed by the Home Office. Kelvin’s got a great personality. He ticks all the boxes.”

The 31-year-old, who has been in the UK for 17 years since he was brought from his home in Nigeria as a child, abandoned and forced into domestic slavery, was arrested without warning on Tuesday when he attended the Becket House reporting centre in central London.

He said he had been told his arrest was pending an interview with the Nigerian high commission on Thursday: a country which has already said it will not accept Fawaz because he is not a citizen.

The Nigerian government has rejected his applications for a passport and he holds no other. The boxer has been trying to establish his nationality since the period of discretionary leave he was granted as a child expired when he turned 18. He has repeatedly written to the high commissions in Nigeria as well as to commissions in the birthplaces of his parents – Lebanon and Benin, which borders Nigeria.

Kelvin is not a threat to this country in any way, shape or form, on the contrary, he is in fact an esteemed asset, loyal to our country and has certainly proved this through his fantastic sporting work whilst boxing for England. 

We are calling on Sajid Javid to; 

• Intervene on behalf of this former England boxer and have him released 

• Grant a British passport to this patriot who is currently stateless