Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court has sentenced the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to life imprisonment in his ongoing terrorism trial.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment on four of the seven charges brought against him, while he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on one charge. Additionally, it was ordered that Maazi Nnamdi be remanded in any correctional centre in Nigeria except the Kuje prison for his safety.
On Count seven, Nnamdi Kanu was ordered to forfeit his Radio Biafra transmitter to the federal government pending the 90-day appeal period allowed for him to appeal the decision.
Terrorism Case
Kanu, 58, who also holds British citizenship, founded IPOB to push for an independent state of Biafra in the South-East, reviving separatist tensions rooted in the 1967–1970 civil war. IPOB was designated a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government in 2017, and security agencies have blamed its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, for numerous attacks in the region.
He was first arrested in 2015 and charged with treasonable felony and related offences, but fled the country after being released on bail in 2017. In June 2021 he was seized abroad and brought back to Nigeria in a controversial operation that his lawyers and some rights groups describe as an illegal rendition. The trial since then has been marked by repeated adjournments and constitutional challenges.
Justice James Omotosho ruled on Thursday that prosecutors had proved that Kanu’s broadcasts and directives to IPOB supporters, including “sit-at-home” orders, incited a campaign of violent attacks against security forces and civilians in Nigeria’s South-East. The court held that these actions amounted to terrorism under the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013.