TIMELINE: Inside Nnamdi Kanu’s journey from Biafra activism to conviction for terrorism

The 10-year-long terrorism trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), came to an end on Thursday after the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted and then sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The trial Judge, James Omotosho, delivered the judgement in Abuja after finding him guilty on all the seven counts filed against him by the Nigerian government.

Mr Omotosho also ordered that he be prevented from having access to mobile devices and broadcast equipment except under the watch of security operatives.

Aloy Ejimakor, the former special counsel to Mr Kanu, told reporters after the judgement that the IPOB leader would appeal the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

Dismissal of preliminary objection

Mr Omotosho, before the judgement, had dismissed Mr Kanu’s contention that his extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria ultimately rendered his trial a nullity.

He held that although the extraordinary rendition from Kenya might have violated Mr Kanu’s fundamental human rights, it did not invalidate his trial for offences committed as well as the court’s jurisdiction, citing similar cases in the US.

Mr Omotosho also dismissed Mr Kanu’s argument that he should be freed because the law upon which he was being tried was already repealed and non-existent.

The judge said the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013, upon which the counts were filed, was still an extant law at the time Mr Kanu committed the terrorism offences which was between 2018 and 2021, citing Section 98 of the Act which supports continued trial and conviction of a defendant charged based on the law before it was repealed.

The Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 was amended in 2022, seven years after the IPOB leader was initially charged for terrorism.

Commotion before the judgement

Earlier before the judgement, Mr Kanu had reminded the court of the three different motions on notice he previously submitted, seeking, among others, a stay of further proceedings in his trial until the issues he raised were determined.

The IPOB leader had, in the motions, asked Mr Omotosho to suspend the judgement, arguing that proceedings were conducted under a repealed and non-existent law.

Of the seven charges against Mr Kanu, six of them were filed under the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 which was amended in 2022.

The Biafra agitator claimed the seventh count which has to do with alleged illegal importation of a radio transmitter into Nigeria was ordered by the Supreme Court to be removed.

The IPOB leader’s motions also sought a halt of the judgement on the basis that the court lacked jurisdiction to try Mr Kanu and did not allegedly provide an opportunity for the IPOB leader to file a final written address in his defence.

He also asked the court to refer his case to the Court of Appeal to determine the issues he raised in the motions on notice.

In response, counsel to the Nigerian government, Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the judge to dismiss the applications for lack of merit.

Mr Omotosho, ruling on the motions, declared that the time for defence had passed and that Mr Kanu’s motions had been decided before now.

The judge stressed that Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 forbade the stay of proceedings in a criminal manner.

“Today is for judgement, not hearing,” he said, before proceeding to deliver judgement.

But Mr Kanu objected and accused the judge of failing to show him the law upon which he was being tried.

“My Lord, there is no judgement today because we have joined issues in the matter,” Mr Kanu said.

But the judge, amid the commotion, ordered operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) to eject him outside the courtroom and then declared a recess.

“You’re biased. You don’t know the law. This is not law,” the IPOB leader yelled at the judge while being led outside the courtroom by the SSS operatives.

He continued his outbursts against the court’s insistence to deliver judgement despite filing motions against it.

When the court resumed about five minutes later, Mr Omotosho ordered that the judgement be delivered in the absence of Mr Kanu because of his “unruly behaviour.”

The judge noted that although it is within the right of defendants to be present during their trials, Mr Kanu’s unruly behaviour had compelled the court to order him outside for the judgement to proceed.

Mr Omotosho later convicted Mr Kanu on all seven counts preferred against him before sentencing to life imprisonment.

PREMIUM TIMES highlights Mr Kanu’s journey from activism and agitation for Biafra to conviction.

Timeline of Nnamdi Kanu’s journey

2009: Mr Kanu launches Radio Biafra which broadcast the ideology of the former breakaway republic, Biafra, and spewed inciting messages and propaganda.

2012: He establishes IPOB with the aim to push for the secession of the South-east and some parts of the South-south from Nigeria to form an independent state of Biafra.

July 2015: The Nigerian government jammed the Radio Biafra signal, preventing many listeners in Nigeria from being able to access it.

October 2015: Mr Kanu was arrested and charged with offences of treasonable felony, unlawful possession of arms, and illegal importation of broadcast equipment, at a Federal High Court in Abuja. A total of 11 counts were initially filed against him.

October 2015: Mr Kanu and his defendants denied the charges.

December 2015: Court ordered the release of Mr Kanu but the federal government failed to comply.

December 2015: The federal government added four more counts against Mr Kanu and, in 2016, three courts ruled that he be remanded in Kuje prison, citing threats to national security.

May 2016: Mr Kanu heads to ECOWAS court blaming then-President Muhammadu Buhari for bail denial.

1 March 2017: Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja struck out six of the 15-count charges against Mr Kanu. The six counts, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11, did not constitute a prima facie case against the defendants, the judge ruled.

April 2017: The Federal High Court in Abuja granted Mr Kanu bail on ‘health grounds.’

April 2017: Mr Kanu became a free man once again after being detained for 18 months.

September 2017: Mr Kanu was last seen after soldiers attacked his home.

September 2017: The lawyer representing Mr Kanu said he has not communicated with his client since 14 September, when his Abia State home was “invaded” by soldiers.

October 2017: When the court sat to resume the treason trial of Mr Kanu, he was nowhere to be found. It was later confirmed that he had fled the country.

December 2020: Mr Kanu announces the creation of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) as an armed military wing of the IPOB.

June 2021: Mr Kanu was brought back to Nigeria to continue his trial.

June 2021: Court ordered his remand in SSS custody until 26 July.

15 July 2021: Mr Kanu speaks from detention, reveals how he was arrested in Kenya.

26 July 2021: Court adjourned the case till 21 October.

26 July 2021: Mr Kanu seeks transfer from SSS custody to prison.

9 August 2021: IPOB declares every Monday a sit-at-home order in the South-east to protest the continued detention of Mr Kanu at the SSS facility.

August 2021: IPOB suspends the sit-at-home order after public outcry. But the illegal order continued following its enforcement by gunmen though disowned by IPOB.

November 2021: Mr Kanu’s legal team walks out on Judge Binta Nyako for the SSS’ refusal to allow Bruce Fein, an American lawyer working with the team, into the courtroom.

8 April 2022: Judge Nyako struck out eight of the 15 counts filed against Mr Kanu, ruling that Counts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14 were incompetent for not disclosing any valid offences against the defendant.

13 October 2022: Court of Appeal in Abuja discharged and acquitted Mr Kanu of all the charges and ordered his immediate release from detention.

October 2022: The federal government appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order of the Supreme Court staying the execution of the appeal court judgement.

15 December 2023: The Supreme Court reversed the acquittal order and ordered the continuation of Mr Kanu’s trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja on the seven-count charge.

February 2025: Nnamdi Kanu asks Binta Nyako to withdraw from the case over alleged bias.

March 2025: A new judge, James Omotosho, takes over the trial after Mrs Nyako’s exit from the case.

22 May 2025: Court sets strict dates (between May and June) for the federal government to close its case against Mr Kanu which the government did on 19 June when the 5th prosecution witness was led in evidence.

September 2025: Mr Kanu files a no-case submission which was dismissed on 26 September.

26 September 2025: The court ordered the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to set up a panel of medical experts to ascertain IPOB leader ‘s health status and fitness to stand trial. This after Mr Kanu, through his lawyers, applied for a transfer to the National Hospital for treatment based on a medical evaluation by a professor of medicine

16 October 2025: NMA panel declared Mr Kanu fit to stand trial.

23 October 2025: Mr Kanu sacks his legal team and pledges to represent himself.

24 October 2025: Court adjourns trial to 27 October following Mr Kanu’s claim that his former lawyers had not handed over his case file to him.

27 October 2025: Mr Kanu refuses to enter defence, claiming he reviewed the prosecution’s case and found “no valid charge” against him. The judge ordered him to file a written address on his position.

30 October 2025: Mr Kanu files a fresh motion seeking his release. In the motion, he re-echoed the points he earlier made during the 27 October proceedings when he told the judge that he had no reason to file any defence in his case because there was no valid charge against him.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Court sentences Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment for terrorism

4 November 2025: The judge, James Omotosho, gives Mr Kanu final chance to open his defence on 5 November or risk being deemed to have waived his right to do so.

5 Nov 2025: The court further gave Mr Kanu another chance to open his defence. Mr Omotosho again urges him to consult criminal law experts to guide him. The IPOB leader was given until 7 November 2025 to open his defence or waive his rights.

7 November 2025: Mr Kanu again refuses to enter his defence, claiming there was no valid charge against him. The judge then ruled that Mr Kanu had waived his right to open his defence.

The court then fixed 20 November 2025 for judgment in the terrorism charges. On the same day, Mr Kanu filed a motion asking the court to “expunge” his initial not-guilty plea from the record, claiming it was deceptively obtained in violation of section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution.

He also urged the court to set aside all court orders and proceedings so far and further asked for his immediate release, arguing that he was being tried under “a non-existent law.” But the judge held all his motions would be determined on the judgement day.

10 November: Mr Kanu filed separate applications to both the Federal High Court in Abuja and the Court of Appeal seeking for a stay of further proceedings on the terrorism charges against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

20 November 2025: The Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Mr Kanu on terrorism charges after he was found guilty of all seven-count charges filed against him.

Justice Omotosho then sentenced the IPOB leader to life imprisonment.