A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, November 20, 2025, sentenced the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment after convicting him on multiple counts of terrorism-related charges.
The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho found Kanu guilty of terrorism charges.
The court found the British-Nigerian national guilty on charges, including incitement to violence and promoting acts of terrorism through his leadership of IPOB and broadcasts on Radio Biafra.
Justice Omotosho held that he listened to the plea of clemency by Kanu’s solicitor to arrive at the sentencing. According to the presiding judge, this plea was the reason he didn’t deliver a death sentence to Kanu.
Court Convicts Nnamdi Kanu of Terrorism Charges
Before Kanu’s sentencing, Justice Omotosho convicted him of the seven terrorism charges preferred against him.
Reading out his judgment on Thursday, the presiding judge referenced evidence adduced by the prosecution, including video interviews showing Kanu making several violent threats against Nigeria and its citizens.
The first count accuses Kanu of making a September 2021 broadcast “with intent to intimidate the population”, allegedly threatening that “people would die” and that “the whole world would stand still”.
The prosecution described the broadcast as an act of terrorism under section 1(2)(b) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2015.
Justice Omotosho found Kanu guilty of terrorism charges count one.
He ruled: “His intention was quite clear as he believed in violence. These threats of violence were nothing but terrorist acts, which were duly carried out by his followers. He was consumed by violence and didn’t mind if his own people died in the process. It is clear that the defendant carried out preparatory acts of terrorism.
“Consequently, the defendant is hereby convicted with respect to count one.”
On count two, Justice Omotosho held that the threats of violence and killings, including the declaration of sit-at-home in the South East states, in his many broadcasts constitute acts of terrorism.
He, therefore, found Kanu guilty of the terrorism charges count two.
Justice Omotosho held: “The defendant enforced the order of Sit-at-Home in the South East. Saying there will be a complete shutdown of Biafraland. Saying I know some of you are foolish, trying to open your shop around 12 noon. If you do that, we will burn you in that shop.
“This is an unconstitutional act that is subversive, a notorious act where people in the South East are made to sit at home, everywhere is deserted, even the farmlands.”
Justice Omotosho also found Kanu guilty of terrorism charges counts four and five of inciting violence during the #EndSARS protests, resulting in the killing of security personnel and the destruction of government properties in Lagos.
Justice Omotosho stated that, “A person who is found guilty of the offence will get a maximum of a death sentence.”
The presiding judge also convicted Kanu of terrorism charges count seven.
Justice Omotosho, ruling on count 7, held 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.
The judge said Nigeria is an indivisible state and can’t be divided, adding that anyone agitating for a breakup 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.”
Judge Orders Security to Eject Nnamdi Kanu During Verdict Reading
Earlier on Thursday, a drama erupted at the Federal High Court in Abuja as proceedings of Kanu, descended into chaos, culminating in the presiding judge ordering his removal from the courtroom by security personnel.
The scene unfolded shortly before the commencement of the final judgment reading.
Trial Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered security agents to bundle Kanu out of the courtroom, after he insisted that judgment would not be delivered in the terrorism charge the Federal Government entered against him.
Following Kanu’s repeated shouts that the trial judge must show him where it was written in the law that he was not entitled to file a written address in the case against him, the court temporarily halted its proceedings to enable security operatives to take him out of the room.
Justice Omotosho stood down the matter after delivering a ruling that dismissed fresh motions the IPOB leader had filed after the case was slated for judgment.
According to the court, the motions raised issues that had been previously raised by the defendant.
It dismissed Kanu’s request for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal, stressing that section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, forbade the stay of proceedings in a criminal matter.
The court equally refused the defendant’s request for bail, saying it would, in the course of the judgment, consider some of the issues Kanu raised in his motions.
