Outrage, support trail Nnamdi Kanu’s relocation to Sokoto prison

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has begun serving his life imprisonment sentence at the Sokoto Custodial Centre.

His lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, said he went to visit Kanu at the Department of State Services (DSS) office in Abuja on Friday but was told that Kanu had already been transferred to Sokoto. Ejimakor expressed concern that Sokoto is very far from Kanu’s lawyers, family, and supporters.

A DSS source also confirmed the transfer.

Justice Kolawole Omotosho, who sentenced Kanu on Thursday, said Kuje prison in Abuja was not safe for him because of the possible danger to his life due to violence linked to his followers.

Security was tight across several states in the Southeast as people reacted to the judgment.

IPOB said it would continue to push for peaceful self-determination and insisted that no weapons or attack plans were ever found with Kanu. It also argued that he broke no Nigerian or international law. The group said it still wants a United Nations–supervised referendum.

The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) also rejected the judgment. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, urged people to remain calm. She said the ruling was sad but called for restraint and peaceful dialogue involving Igbo leaders, political officeholders, religious leaders, and business people.

She warned that anger and violence would only make things worse and encouraged collective efforts to find a peaceful political solution.

Meanwhile, the Igbo Youth Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly described the judgment as a “welcome development.” Its leader, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, said the ruling creates room for further actions, including appeal and possible presidential pardon.

Other Igbo leaders disagreed. Former Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader, Demian Okeke-Ogene, said the ruling was unacceptable and urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene for peace.

An Aba-based lawyer, Gabriel Emperor Ogbonna, said Kanu did not defend himself in court and that only the prosecution’s evidence was available, which made the judge’s decision strong.

He agreed that a presidential pardon is possible but said many people in the Southeast who lost loved ones to violent activities linked to IPOB’s Eastern Security Network (ESN) may oppose it. He suggested that a political solution remains the best option.

In Imo State, the Police Commissioner Aboki Danjuma warned that the police would not allow any breakdown of law and order. He said security patrols and raids had been intensified.

A former lawyer to Kanu, Vincent Obetta, also called on President Tinubu to pursue a political solution, saying the continued detention of Kanu despite previous court rulings violated the Constitution and international law.