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The judiciary in Nigeria has convicted independence advocate Nnamdi Kanu for terror-related offenses ten years after his initial arrest.

The presiding judge affirmed that Kanu had made a series of broadcasts encouraging violence and killings within his movement for a separate state in Nigeria's south-eastern region, referred to as Biafra.

Kanu has been found culpable on all seven charges he faced—encompassing terrorism, treasonous activities, and participation with a banned separatist movement.

Emergence of a Secessionist Figure

Once a little-known personality, Kanu's following escalated in 2009 when he launched Radio Biafra, a station that advocated sovereignty for the Igbo people, broadcast to Nigeria from London.

Though he grew up in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, where he studied at the University of Nsukka, Kanu moved to the UK prior to completing his studies and acquired British citizenship.

In 2014, he set up the Indigenous People Of Biafra (Ipob), an organization demanding self-rule.

Prohibition and Armed Activities

Ipob was proscribed as a terror group in 2017. The group's militant faction—the Eastern Security Network—has been accused of killings and other acts of aggression in recent years.

Issuing his ruling, Presiding Judge James Omotosho stated: "The defendant was aware of what he was doing, he was bent on carrying out these threats without consideration to his own people."

"From the undeniable evidence, it is clear that the defendant performed preliminary actions of terror."

"He had the obligation to explain himself but did not manage to do so."

Reaction and Legal Process

Kanu is a influential leader in his group's stronghold in south-eastern Nigeria, but response to the decision there has so far been muted.

In court ahead of the ruling, Kanu argued that the trial could not continue because he had not yet filed his concluding statement, accusing the judge of partiality and misinterpreting the law.

This ruling was announced after Kanu had been escorted out from the courtroom for disruptive conduct.

Detainment Background

Kanu was first arrested in October 2015 but he violated bail conditions in 2017 and departed the nation after a military raid on his home. Judicial authorities later revoked his bail in March 2019 and he was re-arrested in 2021 in Kenya.

Historical Context

Demands for Biafran independence date back many years.

In 1967 Igbo leaders proclaimed a Biafran state, but after a brutal civil war, which led to the loss of lives of up to a one million people, the independence uprising was defeated.