A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, has sentenced the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment for terrorism charges.
Kanu was sentenced four years after he was arrested in Kenya under contentious circumstances and brought back to Nigeria.
Justice Omotosho while delivering the judgment on Thursday, stated that the court was being merciful by not imposing the death sentence on Kanu despite the consequences of his actions in the South-East.
He added that the international community frowns at the imposition of life sentences but maintained that the punishment was appropriate under the circumstances.
The judgment was delivered in Kanu’s absence after the IPOB leader insisted that the judgment would not be delivered in the terrorism charge the Federal Government entered against him.
Due to the drama that ensued, the presiding judge ordered security agents to take him out of the court room for ‘unruly behaviour.’
Omotosho stated that several broadcasts by Kanu, through Radio Biafra, constituted acts of terrorism, adding that his rhetoric and intention were anchored on violence.
The judge also asserted that Kanu’s sit-at-home order in South-Eastern states amounted to terrorism, stressing that the order violated South-easterners’ freedom of movement.
The court said the IPOB leader is found guilty of committing acts of terrorism against the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The court convicted Kanu on all seven counts preferred against him even though the IPOB leader pleaded non-guilty to the charges.
