BREAKING: Court Sentences Nnamdi Kanu to Life Imprisonment

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, marking a major climax to a decade-long trial.

The judgment, delivered on Thursday, comes four years after Kanu was arrested in Kenya under controversial circumstances and returned to Nigeria to face terrorism charges.

Kanu was convicted on all seven counts bordering on terrorism, despite pleading not guilty throughout the trial.

The judgment was delivered in his absence after he insisted that the court would not deliver judgment in the case. His refusal to participate prompted Justice Omotosho to order security operatives to remove him from the courtroom over what the judge described as “unruly behaviour.”

In his ruling, Justice Omotosho held that several of Kanu’s broadcasts on Radio Biafra amounted to acts of terrorism, noting that his rhetoric was intentionally violent and targeted at destabilizing the country.

He added that Kanu’s sit-at-home directives in the South-East constituted terrorism, describing the order as a violation of citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of movement.

The court further stated that evidence before it showed Kanu had carried out “preparatory acts of terrorism” through broadcasts in which he allegedly ordered attacks on police and military personnel.

Justice Omotosho concluded that Kanu committed acts of terrorism against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, warranting the sentence imposed.