A federal high court in Abuja has found Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), guilty on all seven terrorism counts brought against him by the federal government.
Gatekeepers News reports that presiding judge James Omotosho ruled that the prosecution successfully proved each allegation, adding that Kanu had deliberately refused to challenge the evidence presented.
Justice Omotosho said that the IPOB leader was unfit to remain among sane individual, stressing that his repeated insistence on being a freedom fighter did not legitimise actions taken in violation of national laws.
According to the judge; while the defendant often portrayed himself as seeking justice for his people, self-determination outside the nation’s laws is illegal. He said Kanu’s agitation relied on brutal force and terrorism that had led to the bloodshed of innocent citizens.
The judge further praised the prosecution witnesses, noting that they maintained composure despite the provocative questioning.
Prosecutors alleged that Kanu, a native of Afara Ukwu in Abia State and leader of the proscribed IPOB, carried out terrorist activities in September 2021 by issuing a broadcast received in Nigeria that threatened mass death and warned that the country would come to a standstill. The prosecution stated that the offence falls under section 1(2)(b) of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2015.
They also claimed that the broadcast amounted to an act in furtherance of an act of terrorism, arguing that Kanu used it to intimidate citizens and issue a death threat to anyone who ignored his sit-at-home directive.
He allegedly declared that defaulters should write his/her will, a threat that reportedly shut down banks, markets, schools, shopping malls, fuel stations, and restricted movement across the eastern states. This, according to prosecutors, is punishable under section 1(2)(b) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.
The prosecution added that between 2018 and 2021, within the court’s jurisdiction, Kanu identified himself as a member and leader of IPOB despite its proscription, an offence they say violates section 16 of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2015.
They further accused him of using various broadcasts within the same period to incite the public to hunt down Nigerian security personnel and their families, offences they said fall under section 1(2)(h) of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013.
Another allegation was that Kanu urged people to build bombs and other explosive devices to destroy the country, also punishable under section 1(2) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.
Prosecutors additionally claimed that between March and April 2015, he arranged the illegal importation of a Tram 50L radio transmitter into Nigeria, hidden in a shipment of used household goods and falsely declared as such, an act said to contravene section 47(2)(a) of the Criminal Code Act Cap C45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
