- Against FG’s push for death penalty
Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment instead of death sentence.
Justice Omotosho announced the sentencing on Thursday after an hour-long judgment in which the IPoB was convicted on all the seven counts of terrorism charges by the Department of States Security (DSS), on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The judge held that the threats of violence and killings, including the declaration of sit-at-home in the South-Eastern states of the country, in his many broadcasts, constitute acts of terrorism.
The court also convicted the IPoB leader on count three that, he (Kanu), on diverse dates between 2018 and 2021, professed himself to be a member of the IPOB, a proscribed organization in Nigeria.
Justice James Omotosho specifically found him guilty of breaching the terrorism law in several broadcasts he made in which he threatened the corporate existence of Nigeria and promoted the breakaway of the South East region from Nigeria to form the Biafra nation.
In a judgment on Thursday, Kanu was said to have made it clear that Somalia will be a paradise unless the Biafran nation is granted.
Reports said in one of the interviews he granted Sahara Television, the convict was said to have stated that nothing would be living in a zoo called Nigeria by the time he executed his secession threat.
He also said that the only language people in the zoo (Nigeria) understand is violence, and they will be given to them.
In the interview, Kanu, who claimed to be the founder and Director of Radio and Television of Biafra, made a broadcast to the effect that the Army of Nigeria will die. Everything called Nigeria will perish in Biafra.
At the Igbo World Congress in the United States of America, Kanu also stated on the occasion that there will be a “blood boom”, adding that “America will give us guns and bullets. We are ready to perish unless they give us Biafra.”
Justice Omotosho, in the judgment, said that the allegations against Kanu were proved beyond a reasonable doubt, going by the avalanche of exhibits tendered against him.
The judge held that the convict did not help the matter when he bluntly refused to enter a defence in the charges against him.
According to the judge, Kanu knew what he was doing while making the reckless, violent statements in his numerous broadcasts.
The judge, while delivering his judgment, said a person found in violation of the terrorism act gets a maximum death sentence.
Justice Omotosho held that the prosecution led credible evidence to establish that Kanu belonged to IPOB, which had been proscribed, and its affiliate, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The judge also held that the prosecution proved that, by his many broadcasts, he incited his followers to violence, which resulted in the killing of security personnel and destruction of property, including police stations across the country.
Immediately after the conviction was pronounced, the Federal government’s lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had urged the court to impose the maximum penalty prescribed under the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013.
Awomolo reminded the judge that the law mandates a death sentence for several of the offences Kanu was convicted of.
“My Lord, consequent upon the conviction, nothing further remains but the lawful imposition of sentence. The punishment prescribed for the offences in Counts One, Two, Four, Five and Six, pursuant to Section 12H of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013, is death,” Awomolo submitted.
“With all sense of humility, I say as a prosecutor that this court has no discretion in that regard. The only sentence Your Lordship can impose for Counts One, Two, Four, Five and Six is death, because the law empowers you to do so, and we expect that you will.”