A Nigerian court has found the leader of a prominent separatist movement, Nnamdi Kanu, guilty of terrorism and several other serious charges, after a nearly ten year long legal battle.

Kanu has been sentenced to four life terms, which will run concurrently.

Judge James Omotosho delivered the verdict after an intense session in the capital, Abuja, ruling that that the prosecution had sufficiently proven their case, and stating that he was satisfied that Kanu had used broadcasts to incite violence and killings as part of his campaign for the independent state of “Biafra” in Nigeria’s south-east.

Kanu was convicted on all seven charges he faced, which included terrorism, treason, and belonging to an outlawed movement, the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) movement. Kanu had denied all charges and questioned the court’s jurisdiction during his trial. In 2023, the Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling that had dismissed the charges due to the illegality of his arrest abroad.

He himself was not present in the courtroom for the final judgment, having been forcibly removed earlier for unruly behavior.

Though the prosecution requested the death penalty, the judge sentenced Kanu life imprisonment, noting that capital punishment is now “frowned upon” by the courts.

The IPOB leader, a dual British and Nigerian national, was first arrested in 2015, and jumped bail in 2017 following a military raid on his home before fleeing the country. He was re-arrested and forcibly returned to Nigeria in 2021 despite his lawyers claiming he was illegally detained in Kenya.

Kanu gained prominence in 2009 with Radio Biafra, advocating for an independent Igbo state, and later founded the IPOB movement in 2014, which was banned by the Nigerian government in 2017 and labeled a terrorist organisation.

The IPOB’s armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, has been associated with violence in the region.