Nigeria TV Info 

Nnamdi Kanu’s Terrorism Trial Ends After 10 Years, Bags Life Imprisonment Verdict

After a decade-long legal saga, the trial of Nnamdi Kanu concluded with a dramatic verdict: the leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was found guilty on all seven terrorism-related counts and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The judgement, delivered by James Omotosho of the Federal High Court Abuja, followed prosecution arguments asserting that Kanu’s broadcasts and directives incited deadly attacks on security forces and civilians across Nigeria’s south-east. According to the ruling, these acts constituted terrorism under the country’s law.

Kanu’s legal ordeal began in 2015 when he was first arrested; he later fled on bail, was recaptured in Kenya in 2021, and extradited back to Nigeria in contentious circumstances. Throughout the trial he contested the legitimacy of the court, challenged jurisdictional grounds and refused to open a defence.

The prosecution sought the death penalty, but the judge opted for life imprisonment citing global trends moving away from capital punishment and in the interests of showing “mercy”. The court also ordered that Kanu be kept under protective custody, denied unsupervised access to digital devices (which prosecutors argued he used to mobilise violence) and that equipment used for his broadcasts be forfeited.

Reaction has been sharply divided: the federal government hailed the verdict as an affirmation of the rule of law, while some political figures from the south-east criticised it as a predetermined outcome and a blow to the region’s agitation for greater autonomy. The ruling marks a significant turning-point in Nigeria’s handling of separatist movements in its south-eastern region.