Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of terrorism charges.
The judgement was delivered on Thursday, four years after Mr Kanu was arrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria.
He was charged with seven counts bordering on terrorism.
The court delivered the judgement in Kanu’s absence after he insisted that the ruling would not be issued in the terrorism case filed by the Federal Government.
During the court session, Justice Omotosho ordered security operatives to remove Kanu from the courtroom for what he described as “unruly behaviour.”
Justice Omotosho held that several broadcasts by Kanu on Radio Biafra amounted to terrorism.
According to him, Kanu’s statements were “anchored on violence.”
The judge added that Kanu’s directive for a sit-at-home order in the South-East also qualified as terrorism.
He said the order “violated the freedom of movement of residents in the region” and that Kanu “lacked the constitutional power to direct people to sit at home.”
According to the judgement, evidence before the court showed that Kanu engaged in “preparatory terrorism” through broadcasts in which he “ordered the killing of police officers and military officers.”
The court ruled that the IPOB leader committed acts of terrorism against the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Although Kanu pleaded not guilty to all seven counts, the court convicted him on all charges.
Justice Omotosho sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment for Counts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, which carry the death penalty.
He also sentenced him to 20 years for Count 3 and ruled that the sentences for Counts 3 and 7 would run concurrently.
Announcing the decision, Justice Omotosho said the court imposed life imprisonment “instead of the death sentence” following an appeal by Kanu’s lawyers asking the court to “tamper justice with mercy.”
The judge also held that Count 3 was proven, stating that Kanu, on various dates between 2018 and 2021, “professed himself to be a member of the IPOB,” an organisation already proscribed in Nigeria.
