The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Nnamdi Kanu, has been convicted by Justice James Omotosho after he was found guilty of all the seven-count charges levelled against him and he could face possible death sentence or maximum years imprisonment.
Around 2009, he started Radio Biafra, a broadcast organsation that called for an independent state for the Igbo people. The station operated in London and its signals were received in Nigeria.
In his judgement on Thursday, Justice Omotosho held that the threats of violence and killings, including the declaration of sit at home in the South East states, through the media platform, constituted acts of terrorism.
The judge said Nigeria is an indivisible state and can’t be divided, adding that anyone agitating for a break up of Nigeria is breaking the law.
“The defendant is using terrorism as a weapon to bring secession to Nigeria. The defendant did not threaten Nigeria only, but his own people,” he declared.
Justice Omotosho also held that Mr Kanu extended his terrorism act to the United States of America, when he ordered that the American Embassy be brought down, in a broadcast, as well as threatening the United Kingdom.
He also noted that the right to self-determination is a political right. “Article 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, gives people the right to self-determination.
Mr Kanu’s trial has been one of Nigeria’s most talked about legal battles in recent years. He was first arrested in 2015 and charged with treasonable felony and terrorism, but the case has since taken numerous turns.
In 2017, Mr Kanu fled the country while out on bail, following a military operation at his residence during the time of Operation Python Dance in the South-East.
In June 2021, he was arrested in Kenya under contentious circumstances and brought back to Nigeria, a move his legal team and IPOB describe as an “extraordinary rendition.”
Ahead of the verdict, Mr Kanu insisted that proceedings could not continue because he had not yet filed his final written address, accusing the judge of bias and not understanding the law.
The verdict was delivered after Mr Kanu had been forcibly removed from the courtroom for unruly behaviour.
The calls for Biafran independence date back many years. In 1967, some Igbo leaders declared a Biafran state, but after a brutal civil war that spanned three years and led to the deaths of up to a million people, the secessionist rebellion was defeated. Over the years, different entities have moved to take over the course.