The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment for terrorism.
Kanu informed the Court of Appeal that he had been convicted of an act preparatory to or in furtherance of an act of terrorism punishable under Section 1(2)(b) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 – sentenced to life imprisonment; and making a broadcast on or about 30/5/2021 received and heard in Nigeria with intent to intimidate the population, issued a deadly threat that anyone who flouted a sit at home order should write his/her will.
Further, Kanu informed the appellate court that that he was sentenced without allocutus and “did not consider relevant mitigation or sentencing factors.”
On November 20, 2025, Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment on a seven‑count terrorism charge for his agitation—which turned violent—calling for the secession of the South‑Eastern and South‑South states, and parts of Benue and Kogi, from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.