The Executive Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Dr. Sam Amadi, has described the conviction and life sentence of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, as the culmination of years of political marginalization of the Igbo people.
In a Thursday Democracy Broadcast, Amadi argued that Kanu’s prosecution by the Federal High Court in Abuja bears the hallmarks of a “political trial” rather than a neutral application of justice.
He said the case fits into a broader pattern in which Igbo interests are treated with disproportionate severity compared to similar or even more violent agitations elsewhere in the country.
Amadi pointed to longstanding grievances, including alleged Boko Haram sympathizers in the North, violent episodes linked to Fulani herdsmen, and past OPC-related attacks in the Southwest, none of which, he noted, resulted in the high-profile terrorism trials or imprisonments now associated with Kanu.
“Kanu is the first person who has faced trial and been convicted after many years of being put on trial. This is a political action by the Nigerian state,” he said, describing the legal processes leading to the verdict as “deeply unfair.”
He referenced Kanu’s controversial extraordinary rendition from Kenya, prolonged detention in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), and repeated violations of court orders that had granted him relief. These, Amadi argued, collectively underscored a justice system inconsistent in its treatment of different groups.
Yet even as he condemned the judicial process, Amadi warned Igbo people against violent.
According to him, violence would only reopen the wounds of the insecurity that destabilized the South-East during the Buhari administration.
“The message to Ndigbo is simple: Don’t fall for this. No violence in the South-East—none whatsoever,” he stressed.
Instead, Amadi urged IPOB sympathizers and the wider Igbo community to convert their anger into organized political action, arguing that the region’s salvation will not come from foreign governments or international institutions but from building resilient local political structures.
He maintained that Kanu’s ordeal symbolizes the broader political weakness of the Igbo.
“He is convicted because the Igbo have been convicted. He is sentenced because the Igbo have been sentenced politically,” he said.
The former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) called for a renewed, strategic political mobilization, from governors and senators to local government officials, to defend and advance Igbo interests.
“This moment is a moment of clarity for us to resolve that we’re going to take over the South-East,” he said, urging unity behind a deliberate political movement.
“No violence in the South-East; rather, strong political action. A word is enough for the wise,” he added.
Kanu was sentenced on Thursday by Justice James Omotosho, who delivered a verdict that balanced harsh criticism of Kanu’s conduct with what he described as the need to “temper justice with mercy.”
The judge convicted Kanu on multiple terrorism-related charges, including leading a proscribed organisation and issuing violent-enforced directives across the Southeast.
Although another high court had in October 2023 nullified and voided the prescription of IPOB as a terrorist organization and even awarded N8 billion against the federal government and South East governments.
However, delivering his judgement, Justice Omotosho rejected calls for the death penalty, noting global trends against capital punishment and citing biblical principles of mercy. Despite describing Kanu as “arrogant, cocky, and full of himself,” the judge held that “life is sacred to God.”
He convicted Kanu on counts 1, 4, 5, and 6, sentencing him to life imprisonment, while imposing 20 years on count 7 and 5 years on another count, both without the option of a fine. All sentences are to run concurrently.
The court said Kanu’s conduct throughout the trial, including what it called an attempted assault on security personnel on the morning of the judgment, reinforced its view of his “tendency toward violence.”
Earlier in the morning, the judge had ordered proceedings to continue in Kanu’s absence after he was removed from the courtroom for unruly behaviour. The court ruled that the prosecution’s evidence stood unchallenged due to Kanu’s refusal to present a defence.
The judge further upheld the charge that Kanu declared a “sit-at-home” order enforced through threats and violence, describing it as a terrorist act under Section 16 of the Terrorism Prevention Act, which prescribes death or life imprisonment.
He also convicted Kanu on count three, ruling that his own broadcasts and public statements affirmed his leadership of IPOB and the Eastern Security Network (ESN), both designated as terrorist organisations by the Federal Government in 2017.
