…Says ‘I was convicted of fighting for the freedom of Igbos in Biafraland, Sunday Igboho walking free for agitating for the freedom of the Yorubas in Oodua Republic’
*Vow: ‘If I die in this liberation process, I’d have no regrets’
*’I fear for my husband’s safety inside the prison’- Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, Wife
* ‘There are two justice systems in Nigeria’-Deji Adeyanju, Human Rights lawyer
*“We are ready to appeal against the conviction of our client, ruling is a travesty of justice”-Legal Team
*“Conviction of Kanu in Nigeria is Grave Injustice”-MIKE Arnold, former Mayor of Texas
*BY SAMUEL AMAECHI, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER/NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER Inc USA reporting LIVE from Sokoto State, Nigeria
THE conviction of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra group, IPOB, a Separatist movement in Nigeria a few days ago has snowballed into multiple views by the Nigerian populace and members of the international community. The latest intelligence reports by reliable eyewitnesses within the environment of Sokoto prisons revealed that IPOB leader believes he’s a political prisoner, and not an international terrorist as claimed by courts in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This reliable source who overheard complaints made by Kanu to a few aides, quoted him as saying: “Kanu believes strongly he is fighting a just cause to liberate his people in the country. I could hear him call himself a political prisoner, not an international terrorist.”
His aides told me that Kanu said: “I was convicted of fighting for the freedom of Igbos in Biafraland, Sunday Igboho walking free for agitating for the freedom of the Yorubas in Oodua Republic. If I die in this liberation process, I’d have no regrets. I have not committed any crime for fighting for the freedom of my people.”
Judge says Nnamdi Kanu used his IPOB group to incite attacks on security officials and civilians. The Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu has been sentenced to life in prison on terrorism-related charges by a court in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Judge James Omotosho said prosecutors had shown that Kanu, who also holds British citizenship, had used his IPOB to incite attacks on security officials and civilians in south-east Nigeria and during anti-police protests in Lagos.
“The court finds that the defendant, Nnamdi Kanu, is an international terrorist and must be treated accordingly,” Omotosho said.
“His intention was quite clear as he believed in violence. These threats of violence were nothing but terrorist acts,” the judge had said earlier while convicting him.
Kanu, 58, who had dismissed his legal team and represented himself during the trial, was earlier ejected from court for “unruly” behaviour. “Which law states that you can charge me on an unwritten law? Show me,” Kanu said before he was removed from the court. “Omotosho, where is the law? Any judgment declared in this court is a complete rubbish.”
The IPOB leader was first taken into state custody in October 2015 and faced multiple charges, including treasonable felony. Eighteen months later, he was granted bail before disappearing until a controversial 2021 extradition from Kenya, which his supporters described as an extraordinary rendition.
Prosecutors had called for Kanu to face the death penalty.
Kanu sought to revive the short-lived state of Biafra, which seceded from Nigeria in 1967, sparking a civil war during which up to 3 million people died.
After its troops surrendered in 1970, Biafra, which comprised the old Eastern Region – most of which is today’s south-eastern Nigeria – was reintegrated into the country.
Several secessionist movements have sprung up to protest against what they see as political and economic marginalization of the region, rallying members of the diaspora to donate to the agitation for independence, including training militia in the region’s forests.
IPOB, seen as the most consequential of these movements, relied for long periods on Kanu’s oratory on the London-based Radio Biafra as a tool of campaign. During Kanu’s time in prison, a splinter group emerged, the Biafran Government in Exile (BGIE), whose self-declared prime minister, Simon Ekpa, was sentenced to six years on terrorism-related charges by a Finnish court in September.
Both groups have been accused of a campaign of terror in south-east Nigeria where militants regularly and violently enforce Mondays as “sit-at-home days”, banning business, schooling and other activity.
According to the geopolitical risk consultancy SBM Intelligence, as many as 700 deaths have been linked to separatist militants since 2021, including a May 2024 incident where five soldiers and six others were killed in an ambush in Abia state. During the conflict, military personnel have also been implicated in multiple cases of human rights abuses.
In 2017, IPOB was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government. Since then, Kanu has hired US lobby firms, including one owned by the ex-congressman Jim Moran. Reports in Nigeria have tied those efforts to the designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” this month by Donald Trump, who threatened to attack Nigeria while citing unproven claims of a “Christian genocide” in the north.
Before the final verdict, it emerged that Kanu had written directly to Trump claiming that a “Judeo-Christian genocide” was under way in south-east Nigeria.
*“We are ready to appeal against the conviction of our client, ruling is a travesty of justice”-Legal Team
Kanu’s legal team has condemned the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which on Thursday convicted and sentenced the leader of the IPOB to life imprisonment on terrorism charges.
The lawyers described the verdict delivered by Justice James Omotosho as “a travesty of justice” and vowed to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, Kanu’s special counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, said the ruling marked a dark day in Nigeria’s judicial history.
“Today will forever be in Nigeria history. Today is the only day I have witnessed a man being convicted for just what he said from his mouth, not what he did with his own hands,” Ejimakor said.
Ejimakor argued that the evidence presented in court did not support the conviction handed down.
“The verdict is not consistent with the evidence laid before the court. The sentence is overbroad, cruel and unusual,” he said.
“How can you convict a man for making a mere broadcast from a location that was never named, and you never tied that broadcast to any single incidents of violence, or even someone slapping someone, not to talk of terrorism?”
He insisted that Kanu’s advocacy for self-determination did not amount to a criminal act.
“To pursue a separate nation of yours is not a crime. In Nigeria today, if somebody says, ‘don’t be silly’, he will get convicted.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made broadcasts, and so what? You convict him for terrorism for mere words in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What kind of precedence is being laid?”
Ejimakor said the team would immediately begin the appeal process.
“From here we are heading to the Court of Appeal. We are going to approach the justices there to check out what happened here today.
“We are very sure that justices there will agree that today was a symbol of travesty of justice that everybody has been suspecting all along.
“If the Court of Appeal disagrees with us, we will head to the Supreme Court, but by God Almighty, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not going to stand convicted. It is going to get overturned.”
Another member of the defence team, Barrister Maxwell Okpara, also criticised the judgment, saying it was driven by anger rather than legal reasoning.
Okpara appealed for calm in the South-East, urging supporters not to resort to violence.
He said the legal team remained confident that higher courts would correct what they believe to be a grave miscarriage of justice.
*There Are Two Justice Systems in Nigeria -DEJI Adeyanju
Human Rights activist and lawyer, Barrister Deji Adeyanju, has strongly condemned the conviction and life imprisonment of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Adeyanju, who said that the judgment is a bad omen that happened to Kanu, warned that the judgment reflects the deepening insecurity and systemic failure in Nigeria, warning that “no one is safe”.
In a statement posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Adeyanju wrote, “Nigeria has happened to Nnamdi Kanu but MAY NIGERIA NOT HAPPEN TO YOU.”
He cautioned Nigerians against celebrating the ruling based on ethnic or tribal sentiments, stressing that the country’s instability affects everyone regardless of background.
“You may rejoice today because of tribal or ethnic sentiments, but as long as you live in Nigeria, nothing is guaranteed. We are all victims,” he said.
Adeyanju revealed that attacks had already reached communities in Kogi and Kwara, warning that other regions could soon face similar threats.
“They are already attacking my village in Kogi & some other people’s village in Kwara; yours may be next.”
While acknowledging that Kanu may have been wrong on the way he went about some things, Adeyanju insisted that the IPOB leader did not deserve this.
“No one is safe in Nigeria. Kanu was wrong on the way he went about some things, but he did not deserve this.”
He contrasted the state’s treatment of Kanu with its handling of armed groups wreaking havoc across the country.
“Mazi Kanu kept in custody for years for demanding for Biafra but those killing thousands of citizens and security officials are pampered and rehabilitated.”
The activist added that Nigeria must confront the truth about its worsening security situation.
“Let us tell ourselves the truth for once in this country, look at the way these terrorists are killing citizens all over the place. They are now moving to southern Nigeria in full force. My zone, the North Central, was almost conquered.”
It will be recalled that SaharaReporters earlier reported that Justice Omotosho on Thursday sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment after condemning what he described as his “atrocious” actions.
The judge also noted international objections to giving Kanu the death penalty.
The judge said that although Kanu had shown no remorse and continued to display violent, unruly behaviour, the court was compelled to temper justice with mercy.
In a ruling that has been roundly criticized, Justice James Omotosho sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment on counts 1, 4, 5, and 6.
For count 7, the court imposed a 20-year prison term without the option of a fine, and an additional 5-year term without the option of a fine on another count.
All sentences are to run concurrently.
The court noted that the offences bordered on terrorism and that Kanu’s behaviour, even during proceedings, reinforced its conclusion about his propensity for violence.
*IPOB Leader Nnamdi Kanu’s Wife Condemns Husband’s Conviction, Says Judge Used Dead Law, Invented Evidence
Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, the wife of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has condemned the life imprisonment sentence handed down by Justice James Omotosho at the Federal High Court in Abuja, calling it illegal, biased, and a miscarriage of justice.
Uchechi, in a statement posted on social media, accused the judge of ignoring constitutional requirements, inventing evidence, and deliberately blocking her husband’s right to a fair hearing.
Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment on terrorism charges for declaring a “sit‑at‑home” order in the South-East, which the court ruled was enforced through threats and violence.
The court also gave him concurrent sentences of 20 years and five years on other counts. Justice Omotosho cited international concerns over capital punishment in deciding against the death penalty.
The trial has attracted national and international attention, with critics alleging political interference. The court linked Kanu’s sit-at-home order to the killing of former presidential aide Ahmed Gulak and accused him of inciting violence through broadcasts.
Justice Omotosho described Kanu as “arrogant, cocky, and full of himself,” adding that his rhetoric posed a serious threat to public safety.
Uchechi criticized the trial for alleged multiple procedural breaches, saying, “The charges brought against Kanu were based on a law that no longer exists (the old Terrorism Act of 2013). The new 2022 Act replaced it.
“The judge knew the old law was dead; refused to acknowledge the repeal. Kanu forced to plead under the dead law anyway. This is like charging someone under a law that has been thrown in the dustbin. Illegal. Void.”
She has also accused the judge of inventing evidence, stating: “Nigeria’s Constitution says: You cannot be punished for an offence that is not written down in a valid law. But the judge used allegations not in charge, used ‘facts’ not presented in court, used accusations that no witness ever mentioned.
“For example, he claimed Kanu planned to bomb the British and US embassies during EndSARS. This is pure fiction. Nobody in court ever said this. It existed only in the judge’s mind. A judge is not allowed to invent evidence.”
She further condemned the court for misusing the “savings clause,” saying: “A repealed law remains repealed. You cannot continue a case under a law that is no longer valid. The judge put the Act above the Constitution. No court is allowed to do that.”
She also criticised the court for ignoring international law requirements, adding, “Since the government claimed Kanu committed crimes in Kenya, the law requires the court to first check: ‘Is this thing a crime in Kenya?’ ‘Did Kenya provide evidence?’
“The answer is: No evidence from Kenya. No Kenyan police report. No Kenyan witness. Nothing. The judge ran away from this issue completely. This means the court had no power to try Kanu on those allegations.”
Concluding her critique, she said: “The judge didn’t follow the law. He didn’t follow the Constitution. He didn’t follow due process. He refused to rule on important issues. He used a dead law. He invented evidence. He blocked the defendant’s right to speak. He delivered a judgment that cannot stand. Therefore: The judgment is worthless. It is illegal. It will not survive appeal. It exposes the judge to disciplinary action.”
The sentence has provoked reactions across Nigeria and internationally, with supporters of Kanu warning of heightened tensions in the South-East.
Human rights groups and legal analysts have expressed concern over the fairness of the trial, noting that it could set a precedent for handling high-profile political and separatist cases in the country.
* Conviction of Kanu in Nigeria is Grave Injustice -MIKE Arnold, former Mayor of Texas
On the hateful convictions of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Mike Arnold, the former Mayor of Texas wrote:
Justice or Vengeance: The Case of Nnamdi Kanu
On November 20, 2025, Nigeria sentenced a man to life in prison for words spoken from foreign soil-after illegally kidnapping him from Kenya, ignoring a UN ruling demanding his release, and prosecuting him under a law that no longer exists.
Just two days earlier, on November 18, Boko Haram co-founder Mamman Nur-responsible for over 2,000 deaths-was sentenced to just five years in prison.
In Nigeria today, words from London carry a heavier penalty than mass murder.
I do not defend the inflammatory language that became the pretext for this sham trial.
But let’s be honest: his real “crime” was boldly exposing the radical Islamic jihad consuming Nigeria-and the government’s symbiotic relationship with it. That message, once controversial, is now undeniable.
This case is not about Biafra or separation. Those are issues for another day.
It is about whether any dissident, journalist, or whistleblower in West Africa is safe from abduction, torture, and indefinite detention without due process.
It is further evidence of the brutal, lawless, totalitarian nature of this genocidal regime.
These facts are not disputed:
1) Kanu was seized in Kenya in 2021-not extradited but illegally rendered.
- Kenyan High Court Justice Anthony Mrima (June 2025): “The abduction and rendition of Mr. Kanu was a blatant violation of his fundamental rights.”
- The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Opinion 25/2022): “The deprivation of Mr. Kanu’s liberty is arbitrary… The appropriate remedy is his immediate release.”
2) The United States has never designated IPOB a terrorist organization.
- U.S. State Department (on record since 2017): “We do not consider IPOB a terrorist organization.”
3) He was charged under a repealed anti-terror law, with no savings clause for pending cases.
4) The group he leads was declared “terrorist” in an ex parte proceeding-no defense was heard. Multiple Nigerian courts have ruled aspects of that designation unconstitutional.
I have personally documented the bulldozing of IDP camps in Abuja, the systematic neglect that kills daily, and the theft of blood minerals that bankroll jihad.
Silencing witnesses-whether with bulldozers or life sentences-does not erase genocide. It guarantees its spread.
America once told the world that no nation can kidnap, disappear, and jail its critics while claiming to fight terrorism. Nigeria just did exactly that—and sentenced a man to life for exposing it.
Silence now is not diplomacy. It is endorsement.
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