Nnamdi Kanu convicted on terrorism charges amid outcry over selective justice

In a highly charged courtroom drama that has reignited debates over free speech, separatism, and judicial fairness in Nigeria, a Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Nnamdi Kanu, the fiery leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on seven terrorism-related charges on Thursday.

The verdict, delivered by Justice James Omotosho, caps a tumultuous 10-year legal saga and could lead to a death sentence, though such penalties are rarely enforced in the West African nation.

Kanu, a dual British-Nigerian citizen born in southeastern Nigeria, rose to prominence in 2009 by launching Radio Biafra from London, a pirate station advocating for the revival of Biafra, a short-lived independent republic that seceded in 1967 amid ethnic tensions, only to be crushed in a civil war that claimed up to a million lives, mostly from starvation.

In 2014, he founded IPOB, a group demanding self-determination for the Igbo ethnic group, which Nigeria's government proscribed as a terrorist organization in 2017.

Critics accuse IPOB's armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), of extrajudicial killings and violence in the oil-rich southeast, though Kanu has long maintained his campaign was non-violent and rooted in constitutional rights to free expression.

The charges against Kanu stem from broadcasts dating back to 2015, where prosecutors alleged he incited violence, managed an unlawful society, and committed treasonable felony by calling for attacks on Nigerian institutions and figures.

"Mr. Kanu knew what he was doing; he was bent on carrying out these threats without consideration to his own people," Justice Omotosho ruled, emphasizing "incontrovertible evidence" of preparatory acts of terrorism.

The prosecution, led by the Department of State Services (DSS), has urged the court to impose the maximum penalty death by hanging with sentencing expected imminently.

Kanu's path to this moment has been marked by controversy.

Arrested in 2015 on similar charges, he jumped bail in 2017 following a military raid on his home and fled abroad. Rearrested in 2021 allegedly in Kenya and renditioned back to Nigeria in what his lawyers called an unlawful extraordinary rendition.

In 2022, an appellate court quashed the charges, deeming his repatriation illegal, but Nigeria's Supreme Court overturned that ruling in 2023, allowing proceedings to resume.

Today's session descended into chaos: Kanu, representing himself after dismissing his legal team, was forcibly removed from the dock for "unruly behavior" and was absent when the guilty verdict was read.

He had earlier demanded the judge produce the specific "written law" he allegedly violated, accusing the bench of bias.

Reactions have poured in swiftly, though physical protests in Kanu's Igbo heartland remained subdued under heavy security.

Online, supporters decried the ruling as a "political witch-hunt" and emblematic of Nigeria's "selective justice."

"Nnamdi Kanu has been convicted of terrorism charges, but Sunday Igboho is a free man," noted one prominent voice, referencing the Yoruba activist charged with similar secessionist agitation but who fled to Benin and returned under a 2021 pardon.

Comparisons to unprosecuted figures like Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, accused of negotiating with bandits, fueled accusations of ethnic bias.

"Between Nnamdi Kanu and Sheik Gumi, who is more of a terrorist?" one user queried, highlighting perceived favoritism toward northern insurgents like Boko Haram.

On the other side, some Nigerians hailed the conviction as a deterrent against separatism.

"He is a terrorist who ordered the burning down of Lagos," one commenter asserted, linking Kanu to unrest during the 2020 #EndSARS protests, a connection the court explicitly cited in its judgment.

The federal government has yet to issue an official statement, but sources close to the attorney general's office described the ruling as a "landmark victory for national unity."

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have long criticized Kanu's detention as a violation of due process, with his trial held largely incommunicado.

The British government, which granted Kanu citizenship in the 1990s, has monitored the case but stopped short of direct involvement.

As sentencing looms, the verdict risks escalating tensions in Nigeria's volatile southeast, where insecurity from herdsmen clashes and ESN activities persists.

For many Igbos, who cite ongoing marginalization since the Biafran War, Kanu's fate symbolizes broader struggles for equity in Africa's most populous nation.