Nnamdi Kanu Found Guilty of Terrorism in Nigeria

Sun Nov 23 2025 11:56:04 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The leader of the Biafran separatist movement, Nnamdi Kanu, has been convicted of terrorism and other charges by a Nigerian court, with potential sentencing including the death penalty.

Nnamdi Kanu, the prominent leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), has been convicted by a Nigerian court on multiple charges, including terrorism and treason. The conviction follows a highly publicized legal saga, and the court is expected to deliver a sentence soon, with the prosecution calling for the death penalty. Kanu denied the charges and previously claimed to have been unlawfully arrested.

A court in Nigeria has found separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu guilty of terrorism following a decade-long legal case full of drama.

The court said it was satisfied that Kanu had made a series of broadcasts to incite violence and killings as part of his campaign for a separate state in south-east Nigeria, known as Biafra.

Kanu has been convicted on all seven charges he faced, including treason and involvement with an outlawed movement.

The court has adjourned, with the judge expected to hand down a sentence later on Thursday. The prosecution has called for the death penalty, although this is rarely executed in Nigeria.

Kanu always denied the charges and challenged the court's jurisdiction over him. At the start of the trial, he dismissed his lawyers but refused to defend himself.

Security around the court in the capital, Abuja, was tightened ahead of the verdict due to concerns about potential protests by Kanu's supporters.

Once a relatively obscure figure, he rose to prominence in 2009 when he started Radio Biafra, a station advocating for the independence of the Igbo people, broadcasting from London.

Though he was raised in southeastern Nigeria, Kanu moved to the UK before completing his university education and obtained British citizenship.

In 2014, he founded the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), a movement seeking independence, which was ultimately banned as a terrorist organization in 2017. Its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, has been linked to various violent incidents in recent years.

Delivering his judgment, Judge James Omotosho stated: Mr. Kanu knew what he was doing, he was bent on carrying out these threats without consideration for his own people. The judgment follows Kanu's removal from the courtroom due to unruly behavior.

Initially arrested in October 2015, Kanu fled the country in 2017 after a military raid on his home, which led to the revocation of his bail in 2019. He was later re-arrested, in a situation his lawyers claim involved unlawful return from Kenya. Although an appeal court had earlier dropped the charges claiming illegal arrest, this ruling was overturned last year.

Calls for Biafran independence trace back decades, with a secessionist movement that culminated in a civil war from 1967 to 1970, resulting in an estimated one million deaths. Despite the historical claims of marginalization felt by many Igbo, the current public response to Kanu's conviction remains subdued.