The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has convicted Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on all seven counts of terrorism and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Justice James Omotosho, who delivered the judgment on Thursday, November 21, 2025, stated that while the gravity of the offences warranted the death penalty, he chose to temper justice with mercy based on biblical principles and global opposition to capital punishment.
“I hereby sentence the convict to life imprisonment for counts one, four, five, and six instead of death sentence,” Justice Omotosho declared. The judge added that Kanu would serve 20 years imprisonment for count three and five years for count seven, with all sentences running concurrently.
The court found Kanu guilty of orchestrating terrorism through incendiary broadcasts on Radio Biafra, issuing threats, and enforcing illegal sit-at-home orders that paralyzed economic activities across Nigeria’s South-East region. Justice Omotosho described Kanu as an “international terrorist” after establishing that he threatened to bomb the British High Commission and assassinate the then British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing.
According to court documents, Kanu also instructed graduates of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry to manufacture Molotov cocktails during a broadcast amid the October 2020 EndSARS protests. The judge noted that these actions resulted in the deaths of security personnel and destruction of government facilities.
The conviction stems from Kanu’s campaign for Biafran independence, which prosecutors argued crossed the line from legitimate agitation into terrorism. Justice Omotosho emphasized that “the right to self-determination is not a licence to cause anarchy.”
Kanu was additionally convicted for illegally importing a Tram 50L radio transmitter concealed in a container labeled “used household items” into Nigeria in 2015, receiving a five-year sentence for this offence.
Before sentencing, Honourable Obi Aguocha, a member of the House of Representatives representing Kanu’s Umuahia North/Umuahia South/Ikwuano Federal Constituency, pleaded for leniency. However, the prosecuting counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, urged the court to impose the death penalty, citing Section 12(h) of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013.
The judge ruled that Kanu must be kept in protective custody and denied access to digital devices unless monitored by the National Security Adviser. He also ordered the forfeiture of the radio transmitter to the federal government.
Kanu, a dual Nigerian and British citizen, was first arrested in 2015 but fled Nigeria in 2017 after soldiers raided his home in Abia State. He was controversially rearrested in Kenya in June 2021 and returned to Nigeria. Though the Court of Appeal initially struck out the charges in October 2022 due to the illegality of his extraordinary rendition, the Supreme Court reversed this decision in December 2023, allowing the trial to proceed.
Throughout the proceedings, Kanu maintained his innocence and refused to enter a defence, arguing that the charges were based on a repealed law. On Thursday, his disruptive behaviour forced Justice Omotosho to order security operatives to eject him from the courtroom before delivering judgment.
Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s former lawyer, announced plans to appeal the conviction at the Court of Appeal, describing the ruling as “a travesty of justice.”
Download the CTC (full judgment) below