00:00On 20th November 2025, a decade-long legal saga that gripped the Federal Republic of Nigeria
00:08reached its dramatic conclusion in an Abuja court room.
00:12Mnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed indigenous people of Biafra, IPOP,
00:17was sentenced to live imprisonment by the Federal High Court.
00:21I hereby sentence the convicts to live imprisonment for the third counts 1, 4, 5, and 6.
00:37Born in Abia State in 1967, Mnamdi Kanu held British and Nigerian citizenship.
00:43After studying in London, he founded the Radio Biafra in 2009 and formally established IPOP.
00:51In 2012, its central demand was a referendum to restore an independent republic of Biafra,
00:58a state that had collapsed in 1970 after a devastating civil war that claimed more than a million lives.
01:05What began as provocative broadcasts from London grew into one of Nigeria's grievous internal security crises since that war.
01:15October 2015, Mnamdi Kanu was arrested in Lagos upon returning from the United Kingdom.
01:23He faced initial charges of treasonable felony, terrorism, and managing an unlawful society.
01:30Following his arraignment, the case was first assigned to Justice John Toho of the Federal High Court.
01:36After 18 months in detention, a different judge, Justice Bintayako, granted him bail on health grounds in April 2017.
01:46She set stringent conditions, including a ban on public gatherings and media interviews.
01:52Five months later, a military operation at his family compound in Umayah forced him to flee.
01:58Nigeria prescribed IPOP as a terrorist organization and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
02:05Inamdi Kanu remained in exile for nearly four years.
02:09June 2021, he was sensationally rearrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria in circumstances later ruled unlawful by a Kenyan high court.
02:20Back in Abuja, the trial resumed before Justice Bintayako, prosecutors brought an amended seven-count charge under the Terrorism Prevention Act,
02:31accusing him of inciting violence through broadcasts, directing deadly attacks on security forces, and enforcing criminal sit-at-home orders across the southeast.
02:41The ensuing legal proceedings were characterized by a constant change after Justice Iyako withdrew from the case for a period.
02:49It passed briefly through Justice Evelyn Ayadike and then Justice Taiwo Taiwo, before returning to the docket of Justice Iyako.
02:58The protracted trial drilled repeated international criticism over due process.
03:03Twice, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared its detention arbitrary.
03:11In the Pivotal movement, Justice Taiwo Taiwo struck out eight of the 15-count in original charge sheet in April 2022, citing lack of jurisdiction.
03:22But the Supreme Court of Nigeria later overturned an acquiture granted unremaining count, sending the case back for trial on the amended charges.
03:32Finally, the case was transferred to a new judge, Justice James O'Motoshaw.
03:38On November 20, 2025, Justice O'Motoshaw delivered the verdict.
03:44After prosecutors presented audio recordings, witnesses' testimony, and evidence linking counters' directives to attacks that claimed hundreds of lives,
03:53the court found him guilty on all seven counts.
03:56He received live imprisonment on the most serious terrorism charges, with concurrent sentences of 20 years and five years on lesser counts.
04:05The judge noted Inamdekanu's lack of remorse and the severe threat to national security, yet chose live imprisonment over death penalty.
04:15Consequently, and in the interest of justice, I hereby sentence the convicts to live imprisonment for the third counts one, four, five, and six, instead of death sentence.
04:39Consequently, life is sacred to God, with respect to count three, he is hereby sentenced to 20 years imprisonment without no option or fine.
04:58For count seven, he is sentenced to five years imprisonment without no option or fine.
05:09To extend the mercy, I hereby order that the sentence shall run concurrently.
05:20And due to the nature of the offenses, the borders on terrorism, and the attitude,
05:29vile nature of the defendants, that I have taken judicial notice.
05:34Outside court, Inamdekanu's lead counsel announced an immediate appeal.
05:39We are filing a notice of appeal tomorrow, and the rest assured the judgment is going to be set aside, because this is not judgment at all.
05:49If you are doubting me, I will get the citizen of the judgment tomorrow, I will give it to you, and the record of proceedings.
05:55We will now discover that the judge left what issues that we raised.
06:00He left everything that we are talking about and be right and on that thing.
06:04So that judgment, it was predicated on anger.
06:08It just, Martin and Carlo has insulted me.
06:12I will show him that I'm a judge.
06:13That's all. That's all.
06:14That's all.
06:15In the Southeast, the ruling deepened existing divisions.
06:19Market remained shuttered in part of Anambra and Imo state.
06:23The federal government called the verdict justice served.
06:26IPOP maintained its leader was a political prisoner.
06:31Ten years after his first arrest, the legal chapter involving Inamdekanu closed for now.
06:36The man who once addressed millions from a London studio will spend the remainder of his life in Nigerian custody.
06:45However, his supporters have vowed the struggle continues.
Be the first to comment