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In Nigeria, a court has convicted separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu for terror-related charges a decade after his initial arrest.

The court stated that Kanu had made multiple broadcasts to incite hostilities and fatal acts as part of his campaign for a separate state in Nigeria's south-eastern region, known as Biafra.

Kanu has been convicted on all seven charges he confronted—including terror-related acts, treasonous activities, and participation with an outlawed separatist movement.

Emergence of a Separatist Leader

Once a relatively obscure figure, Kanu's popularity surged in 2009 when he started Radio Biafra, a broadcaster that called for sovereignty for the Igbo people, transmitted to Nigeria from London.

Although he was raised in the south-eastern part of Nigeria, where he attended the University of Nsukka, Kanu moved to the UK before completing his studies and acquired British nationality.

In 2014, he established the Indigenous People Of Biafra (Ipob), a movement demanding self-rule.

Prohibition and Militant Actions

Ipob was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in 2017. The group's militant faction—the Eastern Security Network—has been implicated of killings and additional incidents of violence in the past few years.

Issuing his ruling, Judge James Omotosho said: "Mr Kanu knew what he was doing, he was bent on carrying out these threats without regard to his own people."

"From the undeniable proof, it is evident that the accused performed preparatory actions of terrorism."

"He was given the duty to explain himself but failed to do so."

Response and Judicial Proceedings

Kanu is a popular figure in his group's stronghold in the south-east, but response to the decision there has thus far been muted.

In court prior to the judgement, Kanu argued that the trial could not continue because he had not yet submitted his concluding statement, accusing the presiding officer of partiality and not understanding the law.

The judgement was delivered after Kanu had been forcibly removed from the court for unruly behaviour.

Detainment Background

He was initially detained in October 2015 but he jumped bail in 2017 and left the nation after a military raid on his home. The court later cancelled his bail in March 2019 and he was detained again in 2021 in Kenya.

Past Background

Demands for Biafran independence trace back decades.

In 1967 Igbo leaders declared a Biafran state, but after a brutal civil war, which resulted in the deaths of up to a one million people, the secessionist rebellion was quelled.