Nigerian separatist leader found guilty of terrorism

After a decade of dramatic legal cases, a Nigerian court has convicted separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu of terrorism.

The court said it was satisfied Kanu had produced a series of broadcasts inciting violence and killings as part of his campaign to create an independent state called Biafra in southeastern Nigeria.

Kanu has been found guilty of all seven charges he faced, as well as terrorism charges. These include treason and participation in illegal sports.

Court has been adjourned and the judge is expected to rule later Thursday. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, although executions are rarely carried out in Nigeria.

Kanu has always denied the allegations and challenged the court’s jurisdiction over him. When the trial began, he fired his lawyers but refused to defend himself.

Ahead of the verdict, security was tightened around the courthouse in the capital, Abuja, to prevent protests from Kanu supporters.

Once a relatively unknown figure, he rose to prominence in 2009 when he founded Radio Biafra, which called for an independent state for the Igbo people and broadcast into Nigeria from London.

Although Kanu grew up in southeastern Nigeria and attended the University of Nsukka, he moved to the UK before graduating and obtained British citizenship.

In 2014, he launched the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra Movement (Ipob), which calls for independence.

Ipob was banned in 2017 as a terrorist organization. Its armed group, the Eastern Security Network, has been accused of killings and other acts of violence in recent years.

Delivering sentence, Judge James Omotosho said: “Mr Kanu knew what he was doing and was hell-bent on carrying out these threats without regard for his own people.

“It is clear from the undisputed evidence that the defendants engaged in preparatory acts of terrorism.

“He had a responsibility to explain himself and he failed to do so.”

Kanu is a popular figure in Nigeria’s southeastern sporting heartland, but local reaction to the verdict has so far been muted.

In court before the ruling, Kanu insisted the proceedings could not continue because he had not submitted his final written submissions and accused the judge of bias and ignorance of the law.

The verdict came after Kanu was forcibly removed from the court for disorderly conduct.

He was first arrested in October 2015 but was released on bail in 2017 and left the country after a military raid on his home. The court later revoked his bail in March 2019.

Two years later, the government announced that he had been arrested again. His lawyers said he was detained in Kenya and forcibly returned to Nigeria. Kenya has yet to comment.

In 2022, the Court of Appeal ordered that the charges against him be dropped, saying he had been unlawfully arrested abroad, but this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court the following year.

Calls for Biafra’s independence date back many years.

In 1967, Igbo leaders declared the state of Biafra, but after a period of brutal civil warResulting in millions of deaths, the separatist rebellion was defeated.

Many Igbo people still feel marginalized by Nigeria’s government, but it’s unclear how many support independence.

Additional reporting by BBC Igbo Ebere Ekeopara in Enugu