…Family and Supporters Protest Judgment
The Department of State Services (DSS) has relocated Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from its Abuja facility to a correctional centre in Sokoto State.
The move comes a day after his conviction and sentencing for terrorism.
Kanu’s legal consultant, Aloy Ejimakor, announced the transfer in a social media post, saying: “MAZI NNAMDI KANU has just been moved from DSS Abuja to the correctional facility (prison) in Sokoto; so far away from his lawyers, family, loved ones and well‑wishers.”
On Thursday, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Kanu on seven counts of terrorism.
He was handed life imprisonment on four of the counts, while other counts drew additional sentences of 20 years and five years to run concurrently.
Justice Omotosho ordered that Kanu be held in a custodial centre other than Kuje Prison, citing concerns over his “violent tendencies.”
The judge also restricted Kanu’s access to electronic devices, including mobile phones and computers, unless under direct supervision by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The court ruled that Kanu’s radio transmitter, linked to his broadcasts on Radio Biafra, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Family Reacts: Fears for Safety and Health
Kanu’s family has strongly protested the move.
Prince Emmanuel Kanu, speaking on behalf of the family, stated that they learned of the transfer only when their legal team visited the DSS headquarters in Abuja.
“They have secretly relocated Nnamdi Kanu to Sokoto prison with the intention to kill him by denying him access to his personal physicians,” he said.
He expressed concern over Kanu’s health, saying: “Kanu is on special medication, which a private doctor is managing after his failed health … This is a plan to finally kill him and we are opposed to it.”
The family urged the international community, including the United Nations, the African Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, to intervene.
“The international community should hold President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government of Nigeria responsible should anything happen to the IPOB leader,” they said.
IPOB Rejects Conviction, Seeks Legal Redress
IPOB, through its spokesperson Emma Powerful, has rejected Kanu’s life sentence, arguing that he “committed no offence known to Nigerian law.”
The group claimed that the court relied on no written law when delivering its judgment, invoking Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that crimes must be defined by a written law.
Powerful added: “No gun, no grenade, no GPMG, no explosive, and no attack plan was ever found on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. None. … No witness, civilian or military, ever testified … that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu committed any offence known to Nigerian or international law. This is an undeniable fact.”
He insisted that the government is criminalising the right to self-determination, protected by international law.
“The only thing the Federal Government continues to criminalise is self-determination, a right guaranteed under Article 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights … and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights …,” Powerful said.
IPOB announced its intention to publicly dissect the judgment, pursue appeals, and reaffirm its call for a United Nations-supervised referendum.
MASSOB Condemns Sentence as “Vengeance”
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) also weighed in, with its leader, Uchenna Madu, denouncing Kanu’s sentence.
Madu argued the ruling amounts to punishment not just for Kanu but “a life sentence for the entire Igbo race.”
He said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has finally set Nigeria on irredeemable fire. He has finally shot the Nigerian State on its deteriorated foundation.”
Madu accused the judiciary of bias, claiming the sentence followed Kanu’s “illegal kidnapping” from Kenya, and was passed under a statute that no longer exists.
He pointed out a perceived disparity in sentencing, noting that Mamman Nur, a co‑founder of Boko Haram, received a lighter term.
According to him, “Just a few days earlier … Mamman Nur … responsible for over 2,000 deaths … was sentenced to just five years in prison.”
MASSOB reiterated its view that Kanu’s rendition from Kenya was unlawful and called attention to United Nations opinions that his detention is arbitrary.
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