Abuja, Nigeria – Aloy Ejimakor, former lead counsel and special consultant to Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has announced that the defense team will file an immediate appeal against the multiple life imprisonment sentences and additional jail terms imposed on his client by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The judgment, delivered on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, marked a dramatic escalation in the long-running terrorism and treasonable felony case against Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his rearrest and extraordinary rendition from Kenya in June 2021.
Justice Omotosho sentenced Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment on each of counts one, two, four, five, and six of the amended seven-count charge preferred against him by the Federal Government. On count three, the court imposed a 20-year jail term without an option of fine, while count seven attracted an additional five years imprisonment, also without the option of a fine. In effect, Kanu now faces multiple concurrent and consecutive life sentences plus 25 additional years behind bars.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the verdict was delivered, Aloy Ejimakor expressed the legal team’s resolve to challenge what he described as a deeply flawed decision.
“We are heading to appeal,” Ejimakor declared emphatically. “We have already taken note of several fundamental errors in law, procedure, and jurisdiction that permeated the entire judgment. This case will be vigorously contested at the Court of Appeal and, if necessary, all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Ejimakor further stated that the defense team had anticipated the possibility of an adverse ruling and had prepared the groundwork for an appeal long before the judgment was handed down. He revealed that notices of appeal and applications for stay of execution would be filed within the shortest possible time allowed by law.
The former counsel also drew attention to what he called “grave constitutional infractions” in the handling of the case, particularly the continued detention of Kanu despite a 2022 Court of Appeal judgment that had discharged and acquitted him on all charges. That appellate decision, which declared Kanu’s rendition from Kenya illegal and a violation of international law, was subsequently upturned by the Supreme Court in December 2023, which ordered a continuation of the trial.
Many legal observers and IPOB supporters have argued that the latest sentencing represents a culmination of political persecution rather than impartial justice. They point to previous pronouncements by the same Federal High Court bench and other superior courts that had either struck out or dismissed portions of the charges against Kanu for lack of merit.
The judgment has already sparked intense reactions across the South-East region and among pro-Biafra agitators worldwide. Although IPOB has maintained a public posture of non-violence since Kanu’s detention, there are fears that the severity of the sentence could inflame tensions and lead to renewed unrest in a region that has witnessed years of military operations and sit-at-home protests.
Inside the courtroom, heavy security presence was maintained by operatives of the DSS, Nigerian Army, and Police. Journalists and a limited number of observers were allowed entry after rigorous screening. Kanu, dressed in his customary white caftan and appearing calm throughout the proceedings, reportedly smiled and waved to supporters as he was led away after the sentence was pronounced.
The Federal Government, represented by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, had urged the court to impose the maximum penalty, describing Kanu’s broadcasts on Radio Biafra and his leadership of IPOB as direct incitement that led to loss of lives and destruction of property, particularly during the 2020 #EndSARS protests and subsequent security operations in the South-East.
However, the defense has consistently maintained that Kanu’s advocacy was purely political and fell within the ambit of freedom of expression guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and various international human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory.
As the legal battle enters its next phase, attention will now shift to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, where Kanu’s lawyers are expected to raise a litany of grounds, including alleged bias, denial of fair hearing, and the trial court’s purported disregard for binding judicial precedents.
Political analysts believe the outcome of the appeal could have far-reaching implications not only for Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB but also for the broader conversation around self-determination, federalism, and the handling of agitations in Nigeria’s multi-ethnic polity.
For now, Nnamdi Kanu remains detained at the headquarters of the Department of State Services in Abuja, where he has spent over four years, much of it in solitary confinement, a situation that international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned as a violation of his fundamental rights.
Aloy Ejimakor concluded his briefing to journalists by reiterating the defense team’s confidence in securing justice at the appellate level: “This is not the end. We are convinced that when all the legal issues are properly ventilated before impartial judges, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will walk out a free man. The struggle for justice continues.”
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Department of State Services nor the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation has issued an official statement on the sentencing. Supporters of the IPOB leader have already begun mobilizing both legal funds and international advocacy campaigns ahead of what promises to be another protracted and high-stakes chapter in one of Nigeria’s most politically charged trials in recent history.
