A Federal High Court in Abuja has concluded a decade-long legal saga, sentencing Nnamdi Kanu, the controversial leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to life imprisonment.
Justice James Omotosho handed down the verdict on Thursday, convicting Kanu on all seven counts of terrorism brought against him by the Federal Government. The judgement was delivered in the defendant’s absence following a dramatic courtroom confrontation.
The judge ordered security agents to remove Kanu from the proceedings for what he termed “unruly behaviour,” after the IPOB leader insisted that the judgement on the terrorism charges could not proceed.
In a comprehensive ruling, Justice Omotosho stated that evidence presented before the court proved beyond reasonable doubt that Kanu’s activities, particularly his broadcasts on Radio Biafra, constituted acts of terrorism against the Nigerian state.
“From the evidence before the court, Kanu carried out preparatory terrorism via his broadcasts through which he ordered the killing of police officers and military officers,” Justice Omotosho asserted.
The judge specifically highlighted the coercive nature of the sit-at-home orders often enforced in Nigeria’s South-East, which have repeatedly paralysed economic and social activities in the region.
“His rhetoric and intention were anchored on violence,” the judge said, adding that “the sit-at-home order in South-Eastern states amounted to terrorism, stressing that the order violated South-easterners’ freedom of movement.”
“Justice Omotosho maintained that the IPOB leader lacked the constitutional power to order people to sit at home,” the judgement read.
Kanu, who was initially arrested in Kenya in 2021 under circumstances that sparked a major diplomatic row and subsequently repatriated to Nigeria, had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
This landmark judgement brings a definitive, albeit contentious, close to a case that has gripped the nation, deepened regional divisions, and drawn international attention to Nigeria’s handling of separatist movements.
