Nigeria’s Federal High Court has convicted separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu on seven terrorism-related charges, marking a major development in the country’s long-running struggle with separatist unrest in the southeast. Delivering the ruling in Abuja on Thursday, Justice James Omotosho said prosecutors presented “incontrovertible evidence” that Kanu used his broadcasts on Radio Biafra to incite violent attacks on security forces and civilians across the region. The judge said the broadcasts amounted to “preparatory acts of terrorism,” and linked them to a surge in deadly assaults attributed to the now-proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Kanu, who founded Radio Biafra in 2009 while living in London, launched the IPOB movement in 2014. The group advocates for the independence of Biafra, echoing Nigeria’s traumatic past: the 1967–1970 civil war, sparked by an attempt to secede from Nigeria, left more than one million people dead, mostly from starvation. The separatist leader did not present a defense during the trial. Earlier this month, he filed a motion to dismiss all charges, calling the case a “nullity.” Court officials say he was forcibly removed from the courtroom before the verdict following what they described as disruptive behavior.
Kanu remains one of Nigeria’s most divisive figures condemned by the government, yet celebrated by many in the southeast who view him as a symbol of political and economic marginalization. His sentencing is expected at a later date, while IPOB supporters have warned that the verdict could deepen tensions in the region, where sporadic violence and sit-at-home protests linked to the movement have continued for years.
