A Nigerian court has ordered separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to face terrorism charges, rejecting his plea to be freed.
The ruling declared prosecutors presented sufficient evidence against Kanu, head of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which seeks independence for Nigeria’s southeast.
It comes more than a year after the Supreme Court reinstated terrorism charges, reversing a lower court challenge in which Kanu argued the government had no case.
Kanu, a British citizen, was first arrested in 2015 for terrorism and treason but fled while on bail in 2017.
He was rearrested in 2021 after Nigerian intelligence operatives lured him from another African country and returned him to custody.
Throughout his ordeals, Kanu has denied wrongdoing, while his supporters accuse authorities of persecuting him to silence IPOB’s separatist movement.
The campaign recalls the short-lived Republic of Biafra, whose 1967–1970 secessionist war left an estimated one million people dead, mostly from the southeast.
Judge James Omotosho said Kanu must now “enter some explanation,” stressing that the decision was not a declaration of guilt but a chance for defense.
“This no-case submission is overruled, and the defendant is hereby required to enter his defense,” the judge ruled.
Authorities have blamed IPOB for deadly unrest in southeastern Nigeria, though the group consistently denies involvement in the violence.
The verdict comes weeks after Simon Ekpa, another separatist leader who gained prominence during Kanu’s detention, was jailed in Finland for terrorism and tax fraud.
For many Nigerians, the courtroom drama revives the shadow of Biafra and stirs fears that history’s old embers may again ignite unrest.