Court convicts Kanu for belonging to IPOB, inciting violence

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on offences relating to belonging to a proscribed terror group and inciting his followers to violence.

The judge in his ongoing judgment in Kanu’s terrorism trial, found the IPOB leader guilty in relation to counts three, four and five of the seven-count charge brought against the agitator by the Nigerian Government.

Omotosho held that the prosecution provided credible evidence to establish that Kanu belonged to IPOB, which had been proscribed and its affiliate, the Eastern Security Network, ESN.

The court held that the prosecution proved that, by his many broadcasts, Kanu incited his followers to violence, which resulted in the killing of security personnel and the destruction of property, including police stations across the country.

The IPOB leader has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021, after he fled Nigeria but was arrested in Kenya under controversial circumstances, his lawyers describe as “extraordinary rendition”.