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In Nigeria, a court has ruled against separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu for terrorism charges a decade after his initial arrest.

The presiding judge stated that Kanu aired multiple transmissions to incite hostilities and fatal acts within his movement for a separate state in Nigeria's south-eastern region, referred to as Biafra.

He was convicted on each of the seven charges he confronted—including terrorism, treasonous activities, and involvement with an outlawed separatist movement.

Rise of a Secessionist Figure

Once a little-known figure, Kanu's following surged in 2009 when he launched Radio Biafra, a station that advocated an independent state for the Igbo people, broadcast to Nigeria from London.

Though he was raised in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, where he studied at the University of Nsukka, Kanu relocated to the UK prior to graduating and obtained British nationality.

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

Ban and Armed Actions

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

Delivering his ruling, Judge James Omotosho stated: "Mr Kanu knew what he was doing, he was determined to executing these intimidations without consideration to his own people."

"From the undeniable evidence, it is evident that the defendant carried out preliminary acts of terrorism."

"He was given the duty to clarify himself but did not manage to do so."

Response and Legal Process

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

During proceedings prior to the ruling, Kanu insisted that proceedings could not proceed because he had not yet submitted his concluding statement, accusing the judge of bias and misinterpreting the law.

This ruling was announced after Kanu had been forcibly removed from the court for disruptive conduct.

Arrest Background

He was initially detained in October 2015 but he jumped bail in 2017 and left the nation after a army operation on his home. The court later revoked his bail in March 2019 and he was re-arrested in 2021 in Kenya.

Historical Background

Demands for Biafran independence trace back decades.

In 1967 Igbo leaders declared a Biafran state, but after a devastating internal conflict, which led to the deaths of up to a one million people, the independence uprising was quelled.