Kanu Life Sentence Appeal: IPOB Leader Fights Back Against Terrorism Conviction
By: Abudu Olalekan
Nnamdi Kanu files an appeal against his life sentence. The IPOB leader is asking the Appeal Court to reverse the terrorism conviction.
Let’s paint a picture. Sokoto Prison is cold. It is very quiet. And it is extremely far away from the noisy, busy streets of the South East. That is exactly where Nnamdi Kanu currently sits right now. But the IPOB leader is definitely not keeping quiet. He is fighting back. And he is fighting back really hard. The man just dropped a massive legal bomb in Abuja.
He has formally dragged the Nigerian government to the Court of Appeal. He wants his life sentence completely thrown out. A total reversal.
Look at the court documents we got at Reportersroom. The formal Notice of Appeal is dated February 4, 2026. It bears the official mark CA/ABJ/CR/…/2026. Kanu and his legal team are going straight for the jugular of that highly controversial judgment. The one delivered in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015. They desperately want those terrorism convictions erased forever.
Remember what happened back in November 2025? It was a crazy month. The Federal High Court slammed Kanu with a life imprisonment sentence. They found him guilty on seven very heavy counts of terrorism. Boom. Life in prison. Just like that. The whole country was shocked.
The charges were no joke. They said he committed acts preparing for terrorism. This goes contrary to Section 1(2)(b) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013. Then there was that infamous broadcast. The one he made on or around May 30, 2021. The trial court said he used that broadcast just to intimidate the Nigerian population. Issuing a deadly threat that anyone who dared to defy his strict sit‑at‑home order better go and prepare their will immediately. Heavy stuff.
But Kanu’s lawyers are saying wait a minute. The trial judge made big mistakes. Very big ones.
In his new appeal against the Nigerian government, Kanu is arguing that the trial court messed up both law and procedure badly. How? By locking him up for life without even giving him the right of allocutus. If you don’t know lawyer speak, allocutus is simply a chance for a convicted person to beg or address the court before the judge drops the final hammer. They didn’t let him speak.
He also complains bitterly that the court just blind their eyes to mitigating factors. Essential things a judge should always consider before handing out maximum punishment were ignored completely.
So what exactly is Kanu asking the appellate court to do for him now? Everything.
He prayed the Court of Appeal to allow his appeal in its entirely. He wants them to quash the conviction on all the seven counts. He is asking them to set aside that heavy life imprisonment sentence once and for all.
His papers specifically requested “an Order of the Honourable Court of Appeal quashing, reversing and setting aside the sentences/punishment imposed on the Appellant by the Honourable trial Federal High Court Judge.”
He didn’t stop there. He also wants another order discharging and acquitting him of all counts. He wants to walk out of Sokoto Prison a free man. Plus any other orders the court thinks is fine in the interest of justice.
The paperwork clearly lists Nnamdi Kanu as the appellant. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is named as the respondent.
This filing shows the imprisoned IPOB leader is not giving up. Even from behind the high walls of his Sokoto cell, he is throwing heavy legal punches. He hates the outcome of the trial. He hates the severity of the sentence imposed on him. And now, the big wait begins for what the Appeal Court will say next.
