Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been relocated from his long-term detention at the Department of State Services facility in Abuja to a correctional centre in far-flung Sokoto State, his former lawyer and consultant Aloy Ejimakor revealed Friday, raising alarms over access to legal support and potential escalation of regional tensions.
The abrupt transfer, occurring a day after Justice James Omotosho sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment on five terrorism counts, 20 years on one and five years on another — all concurrent with no fine — places the 58-year-old separatist over 700 kilometres from his Igbo heartland and family in the southeast.
Ejimakor, who stepped down as lead counsel but continues as consultant, questioned the decision in a tweet, urging restraint while critiquing the geography. “While urging #Ndigbo to remain calm, I must question the wisdom of sending #MNK to Sokoto prison,” he wrote. “When Awolowo was convicted in 1963, he was sent to the East, a neutral zone in his feud with the North. Pres. Tinubu can still halt this drift, as I said in this video.”
The move distances Kanu from his legal team and supporters, complicating appeal preparations against the verdict that IPOB has branded “politically motivated and unlawful.” Justice Omotosho had cited security concerns at Kuje Prison as rationale for a more isolated facility, noting risks of violence from sympathisers.
Kanu, arrested in 2015 and renditioned from Kenya in 2021 amid controversy, was convicted Thursday on charges including managing a terrorist group and incitement, stemming from Radio Biafra broadcasts and IPOB’s sit-at-home orders that have crippled southeastern commerce.
IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful decried the relocation as “state kidnapping,” vowing: “Onyendu’s spirit remains unbroken. This isolation won’t silence the Biafran voice.” Rights groups like Amnesty International echoed concerns, calling it a “further erosion of fair trial rights.”
