Nnamdi Kanu’s Conviction Tribally Motivated, Targets Ndigbo — MASSOB

The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has condemned the judgment delivered against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), describing it as tribally motivated and targeted against Ndigbo.

MASSOB also questioned the basis on which Boko Haram terrorist Mamman Nur allegedly responsible for over 2,000 deaths in the North-East was sentenced to only five years’ imprisonment.

According to MASSOB’s leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, in a statement issued on Friday, the judgment against Kanu was “premeditated,” with “a script already written and delivered” by Justice James Omotoso, whom he described as “a tribalist.”

The statement reads,

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has finally set Nigeria on irredeemable fire. He has shot the Nigerian state on its already deteriorating foundation.”

“MASSOB knows this is not justice but vengeance,hatred and jealousy directed at Ndigbo, with Nnamdi Kanu used as the standard for Igbo persecution.”

“We saw the open anger, the lack of pretence, and the tribalistic disposition of Justice James Omotoso during his biased and malicious ruling, sentencing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to his master’s prison.

”Nigeria has sentenced Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment for words spoken from foreign soil after illegally kidnapping him from Kenya, ignoring a United Nations ruling demanding his release, and prosecuting him under a law that no longer exists.”

“Just a few days earlier, on November 18, Boko Haram co-founder and Islamic terrorist commander Mamman Nur,responsible for over 2,000 deaths was sentenced to only five years in prison.”

“In Nigeria today, words spoken in London attract a heavier penalty than mass murder.”

He insisted that Kanu’s real offence was his outspoken criticism:

“His true crime was boldly exposing the radical Islamic jihad consuming Nigeria and the government’s symbiotic relationship with Islamic jihadists. What was once controversial is now undeniable.”

“Further evidence of the brutal, lawless, totalitarian nature of a genocidal regime led by a clueless president.”

“Justice Anthony Mrima of the Kenyan High Court ruled that the abduction of Kanu in Kenya was a violation of his fundamental rights. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was seized in Kenya in 2021—not extradited, but illegally rendered.”

“In its opinions issued in 2022 and again in 2025, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that Kanu’s detention is arbitrary and that the appropriate remedy is his immediate release.”

“Even the United States of America has never designated IPOB as a terrorist organization. Since 2017, the U.S. State Department has repeatedly stated that IPOB is not considered a terrorist group.”

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was charged under a repealed anti-terrorism law that contains no savings clause for pending cases.”

“This injustice is not only against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; it is against Ndigbo. Ndigbo have effectively been sentenced to life imprisonment in Nigeria”