Nigeria jails separatist leader for life over terrorism (VIDEO)
A Nigerian court has sentenced Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to life in prison after finding him guilty on terrorism-related charges in a case that has dragged on for a decade.
Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered the verdict on Thursday, convicting the 58-year-old head of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on seven terrorism counts. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the judge instead imposed a life term, saying capital punishment is now “frowned upon.”
The court ruled that Kanu used IPOB and his Radio Biafra broadcasts to incite attacks on security forces and civilians in the southeast. He was also accused of ordering illegal “sit-at-home” shutdowns that crippled economic activity and encouraged supporters to arm themselves.
Kanu, who holds both Nigerian and British citizenship, dismissed the proceedings as unlawful, arguing that the terrorism law used against him had been repealed. Last month, he fired his legal team and chose to represent himself.
During Thursday’s hearing, he was at one point ordered out of the courtroom for “unruly” behavior after challenging the judge to show the legal basis for the charges, according to footage shared by local media.
“The court lacks jurisdiction to try me,” he told the court before his conviction, AP reported.
The separatist leader was first arrested in 2015 on charges including treasonable felony and was granted bail two years later, before fleeing the country. In 2021 he was seized in Kenya and flown back to Nigeria in an operation his supporters describe as an illegal rendition.
IPOB, which campaigns for the revival of the short-lived state of Biafra, was designated a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government in 2017. Biafra existed as an independent entity from 1967 to 1970 before being defeated in a brutal civil war. The IPOB has long drawn public attention to what they perceive as the marginalization and oppression of the ethnic Igbo people by the federal government.
Kanu’s sentence comes amid wider legal pressure on Biafran separatist figures. In September, Finnish courts jailed Simon Ekpa, a prominent Kanu ally and leader of a splinter “Biafran government in exile,” for terrorism-related offenses linked to violence in southeastern Nigeria.
