Source: Africa Publicity
The leader of Nigeria’s Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been sentenced to life imprisonment following his terrorism conviction.
Kanu was sentenced on Thursday, November 20, 2025, by a federal high Court in Abuja presided over by Justice James Omotosho.
Judge Omotosho handed Kanu a life in jail sentence for counts 4, 5, and 6 of his seven-count charges.
The IPOB leader, who pride himself as a freedom fighter, was handed a 20-year jail term for count 2.
Delivering the judgment on Thursday, Judge Omotosho ruled that the prosecution had successfully established every allegation.
According to the judge, Kanu offered no credible defence and “deliberately refused” to challenge the evidence presented in court.
He noted that Kanu was “a person who cannot be allowed to remain in the company of sane minds.” He went on to describe Kanu as an “international terrorist.”
The judge says Kanu’s claim of being a freedom fighter could not excuse actions taken outside the bounds of the law.
He stated that Kanu pursued his agitation through “brutal force and terrorism”, which he said caused the “bloodshed of innocent citizens.”
Death Penalty
The government of Nigeria had through its senior advocate, Adegboyega Awomolo, asked for death penalty for Kanu.
In making the death penalty request, Awomolo stated that “The punishment prescribed for the offences in counts one, two, four, five, and six, pursuant to Section 12H of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013, is death”, adding that “With all sense of humility, I say as a prosecutor that this court has no discretion in that regard. The only sentence Your Lordship can impose for counts one, two, four, five and six is death, because the law empowers you to do so, and we expect that you will.”
But the judge Omotosho says while Kanu’s crimes merited the death penalty, he chose a life sentence to show mercy.
