Last Updated on 21 November 2025
Nigeria woke up yesterday to a judgment that will reverberate for decades. The Federal High Court sentenced Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment on terrorism charges – a ruling many observers have already called one of the most controversial in recent judicial history.
The sentence came after Kanu was forcibly removed from the courtroom for what the judge described as “unruly behaviour.” He had insisted the proceedings were biased and that he had not yet filed his final written address. Judge James Omotosho proceeded with the conviction in Kanu’s absence, sentencing him to life imprisonment on four counts and additional concurrent sentences totaling 25 years on three other counts.
As an editorial institution committed to truth, fairness, and civil liberties, Naijadazz firmly rejects this judgment. We call for his immediate release, pending a full, transparent, and internationally monitored review of the case.
A Verdict built on words, not deeds
The court’s decision relied heavily on speeches, broadcasts, and political rhetoric and not on acts of physical violence. Judge James Omotosho ruled that Kanu’s broadcasts through Radio Biafra constituted terrorism, and that his rhetoric was rooted in violence. For a man who has never detonated a device, never carried a weapon, and never ordered an armed attack, a life sentence raises one alarming question:
Is political speech now equivalent to terrorism in Nigeria?
IPOB has maintained that no gun, grenade, explosive, or attack plan was ever found on Kanu, and that no witness testified he committed any offense under Nigerian or international law. The only evidence presented was words – calls for self-determination, a right protected under international law including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
This outcome resembles not justice, but an attempt to silence a voice that challenges power.
The double standard is impossible to ignore
Just days before Kanu’s sentencing, an ISWAP commander, Hussaini Ismaila, who coordinated deadly attacks on multiple police facilities in Kano State in 2012, received only 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism charges. This individual was directly linked to violent operations that left many injured.
Sunday Igboho, who pursued regional self-determination through peaceful mobilization and was labeled a separatist threat, is now free. He even received at home like a man vindicated.
Yet Nnamdi Kanu, whose strongest weapon has always been his microphone, remains behind bars and shackled not by evidence, but by politics.
How does a man who coordinated actual bomb attacks and violence receive 20 years, while a man who has never pulled a trigger is sentenced to die in prison?
This is not equality before the law.
This is not justice.
This is selective punishment and the world is watching.
A sentence that threatens national cohesion
Whether one agrees with Kanu’s ideology or not, he commands massive influence and it would remain so. Yesterday’s verdict has deepened a long-festering wound, reinforcing the belief among millions, especially Igbo youth, that the justice system is neither neutral nor fair, and that dissenting voices from certain regions face disproportionately harsh treatment.
Nigeria cannot build unity through intimidation.
We cannot build peace by crushing political opponents.
We cannot silence grievances and expect harmony.
The appeal Is already underway as It must be
Kanu’s legal team has condemned the ruling as “cruel, excessive, and overbroad,” announcing immediate plans to appeal. Naijadazz fully supports this action and insists that:
- Political activism must never be criminalised
- Free speech must not be treated as violence
- Dissent must not be equated with terrorism
Our stand: release Nnamdi Kanu now
As the editorial voice of Naijadazz, we make this clear and unequivocal call:
The Federal Government must release Nnamdi Kanu immediately, restore his rights, and open pathways for national dialogue rather than deepening division through force.
Silencing him will not silence the grievances of millions. Jailing him will not erase the reality of inequality in our justice system. And punishing him more severely than violent actors exposes a frightening trend: Nigeria is becoming a nation where the law bends based on who stands before it.
Kanu deserves freedom.
Nigeria deserves better.
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