Nnamdi Kanu’s Special Counsel Says Nigerian Court Erred By Using Repealed Terrorism Law For Life Sentence
Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has said that the Federal High Court in Abuja erred by sentencing the IPOB leader to life imprisonment under a repealed terrorism law.
Kanu was convicted on November 20, 2025 on six terrorism-related charges and handed five life sentences and 20 years’ imprisonment on one count, all to run concurrently.
The charges were brought under the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 (TPAA 2013), which was repealed and replaced by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (TPPA 2022).
In a legal analysis released on Tuesday, Ejimakor argued that the 2022 legislation prescribes significantly lighter penalties for the same offences and should have been applied retroactively under the lex mitior principle, which mandates that courts impose the less severe punishment where laws have changed.
Ejimakor said a comparison of the repealed and current laws shows that the 2013 Act, which the court relied upon, was designed with harsh, deterrence-heavy penalties, often defaulting to life imprisonment or death for terrorism-related conduct, including incitement.
In contrast, the 2022 Act introduced more proportionate, rights-compliant penalties, generally ranging between 10 and 20 years for non-lethal incitement and 5–10 years for membership of a proscribed organisation.
“The TPPA 2022 prescribes lighter punishments for the relevant offences, which should have been applied retroactively to mitigate Kanu’s sentence,” he said, adding that international norms and UN guidelines had criticised the sweeping severity of the 2013 framework.
Kanu’s conviction covered allegations of incitement through broadcasts aimed at intimidating the population (Counts 1 and 2), professing membership of IPOB, a proscribed group (Count 3)
Incitement to attack security personnel (Count 4), incitement linked to the EndSARS protests, which the court said contributed to deaths and destruction (Count 5), and threats that allegedly disrupted socio-economic activities (Count 6).
Ejimakor said that under the repealed TPAA 2013, offences under Section 1(2) attracted mandatory life imprisonment where no deaths occurred, and death where fatalities resulted.
He said Section 16 on membership of a proscribed group carried a minimum of five years, extendable to life if terrorism was linked.
This, Ejimakor said, allowed the court to impose the harsh composite sentence.
