IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu sentenced to life improvement
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to life in prison after convicting him on seven charges related to “terrorism” in a years-long trial.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice James Omotosho said the prosecutors proved that Kanu’s broadcasts and orders to his Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group incited deadly attacks on security forces and citizens in the south East of the country.
Omotosho in his ruling said that the “right to self-determination is a political right”, but he added that: “Any self-determination not done according to the constitution of Nigeria is illegal.”
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty against Kanu, but Omotosho said he chose to show mercy.
“The death penalty is now being frowned upon by the international community, consequently, in the interests of justice, I hereby sentence the convict to life imprisonment, instead of the death sentence,” Omotosho ruled.
Kanu has 90 days to appeal the judgement l.
Kanu, who has been in custody since his controversial re-arrest in Kenya in 2021, shouted angrily in objection to the proceedings and was ejected from court ahead of the ruling.
He had argued that his unlawful extradition from Kenya undermined any chance of a fair trial.
Kanu pleaded not guilty in 2021 to seven charges that included “terrorism”, treason and perpetuating falsehoods against Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The IPOB leader was first arrested in 2015, but fled the country while on bail. His social media posts during his absence and his Radio Biafra broadcasts outraged the government, which said they encouraged attacks on security forces.
Ultimately, security agents brought Kanu to court in Abuja in June 2021 after detaining him in Kenya, where his lawyer alleged he was mistreated. Kenya has denied involvement.
In October 2021, Kanu’s lawyers argued that his statements on Radio Biafra shouldn’t be admissible in a Nigerian Court since they were made in London.
“I can’t see how someone would make a statement in London and it becomes a triable offence in this country,” Kanu’s lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor told reporters at the time.
Kanu, a dual Nigerian-British citizen, started Radio Biafra in London in 2009 after he left Nigeria to study economics and politics at the London Metropolitan University.
IPOB wants the entire southeast, the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group, to split from Nigeria. An attempt to secede in 1967 as the Republic of Biafra triggered a three-year civil war that killed more than one million people.
