A Nigerian legal representative for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called on journalists to prioritize evidence-based reporting over sensationalism amid ongoing terrorism proceedings against the group’s detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Onyedikachi Ifedi, a legal adviser for IPOB’s Directorate of Legal Affairs, issued the plea Sunday following Thursday’s court hearing in Abuja, where Kanu’s defense team challenged the federal government’s case as lacking concrete proof of criminal conduct.
During the trial, Kanu’s lead counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, a former Attorney General of Nigeria, questioned the government’s assertion that over 170 security personnel died due to broadcasts by the IPOB leader. Ifedi echoed these concerns, urging media outlets to scrutinize claims made by prosecutors. “Who are the families of these alleged victims? Why have they not testified?” he asked, noting that no forensic experts, investigators, or bereaved relatives had appeared in court to corroborate the fatalities. He criticized the prosecution’s reliance on unsigned death certificates presented by the Department of State Services (DSS), calling them “unauthenticated documents” with no clear chain of custody.
The defense emphasized that none of the five government witnesses, all reportedly DSS operatives, provided firsthand accounts linking Kanu’s speeches to violence. Agabi challenged prosecutors to produce forensic experts directly connecting any deaths to the IPOB leader’s rhetoric. “Self-determination is not a crime,” Ifedi stated, arguing that Nigerian law does not criminalize advocacy for Biafran sovereignty. He described the charge linking Kanu’s phrase “the world will stand still” to terrorism as “laughable,” asking why similar hyperbolic statements by government officials had not been prosecuted.
The statement accused authorities of failing to conduct investigations mandated by the Terrorism Prevention Act and denounced the case as “legally unsustainable” and “politically vindictive.” It urged media organizations to avoid amplifying what it characterized as unsubstantiated narratives, emphasizing that no individual had testified under oath to committing violence due to Kanu’s broadcasts.
Kanu, arrested in 2021 after a controversial international operation, faces charges including treason and terrorism, which supporters argue stem from his nonviolent advocacy for an independent Biafra. The trial has drawn scrutiny from human rights groups, with critics alleging political motivations behind the prosecution. The case resumes amid lingering tensions in southeastern Nigeria, where security forces have clashed with groups agitating for separatism.
