Breaking: Federal High Court Sentence Nnamdi Kanu To Life Imprisonment

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment after an appeal for leniency urged the court to temper justice with mercy.

The sentencing was delivered on Thursday following an hours-long judgment in which Kanu was convicted on all terrorism-related charges brought by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.

Justice Omotosho ruled that Kanu would serve life imprisonment on counts one, two, four, five, and six — all of which ordinarily carry the death penalty.

He further held that the sentences on counts three and seven would run concurrently.

According to the court, Kanu’s declarations of sit-at-home orders in the South-East, along with repeated threats of violence and killings made in several broadcasts, amounted to acts of terrorism.

The judge also upheld the conviction on count three, which stated that Kanu, on various dates between 2018 and 2021, professed himself to be a member of IPOB, an organization already proscribed in Nigeria.