IPOB questions legal basis for Nnamdi Kanu’s detention

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has questioned the legal basis for the continued detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, demanding that the Federal Government immediately list and hear his pending appeal or face an election boycott across the South-East and other parts of “Biafraland”.

The group gave the Federal Government 14 days to act, saying it would consider mobilising for a boycott of the 2027 general election if Kanu’s appeal against his conviction and life sentence was not heard within the stipulated period.

IPOB’s demand followed renewed concerns from Kanu’s family over the delay in the hearing of the appeal.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, said Kanu had written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal, seeking the immediate listing and hearing of his pending cases.

The group questioned why the Federal Government, which it accused of moving swiftly to prosecute and convict Kanu, had yet to file a respondent’s brief or appear before the Court of Appeal to defend the conviction.

The statement read, “IPOB is giving the Federal Government 14 days to list and hear Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s appeal. If they refuse, we will consider boycotting the coming elections across Biafraland and beyond. A government that cannot face its Court of Appeal has no right to demand our votes.

“The Federal Government has not filed a respondent’s brief; it has not listed the appeal, and it has not come to court. A country that rushed to convict is now too frightened to defend the conviction.

“The Federal Government was in a hurry to prosecute and convict Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Now that the conviction is before the Court of Appeal, that same urgency has disappeared. No meaningful progress. No urgency to defend the conviction.

“Nigeria must answer two simple questions: Under which extant written law was Mazi Nnamdi Kanu convicted on November 20, 2025? What specific crime, cognisable under Nigerian law, justifies his continued detention after nearly six years?”

IPOB also challenged the Supreme Court’s decision which overturned Kanu’s discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeal.

The group alleged that the apex court exceeded its constitutional powers by pronouncing on individual counts that had already been quashed by the Court of Appeal.

According to IPOB, the Federal Government must now defend not only Kanu’s conviction but also the jurisdictional foundation upon which his resumed trial was based.

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The group’s position comes as the delay in the appeal has become a major point of contention between Kanu’s supporters and the Federal Government.

IPOB said its proposed election boycott should not be viewed solely through the argument that non-participation could facilitate electoral malpractice.

It maintained that refusing to participate could itself constitute a political statement against a system it believes has failed to deliver justice.

“At some point, people must ask whether repeatedly participating in a process they believe is structurally incapable of delivering justice is itself the definition of political progress.

“A collective refusal to participate sends its own message: a people have withdrawn their consent from a system they no longer trust.”