IPOB accuses FG of keeping Kanu detained under “dead law”

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of sustaining the conviction of its leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, under a repealed statute and of using court delays to prevent an appeal from being heard.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB alleged that Kanu was convicted on November 20, 2025, by Justice James Omotosho under the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, despite the judge himself stating in court that “no written law, no conviction.”

According to the statement, the Federal Government has failed to file any response at the Court of Appeal within the time allowed. IPOB also claimed that the Court of Appeal has refused to list Kanu’s appeal for hearing.

“The government filed nothing. The Court of Appeal is hiding the file. That is the Nigerian system,” Powerful said.

He argued that in a normal jurisdiction, a respondent who files nothing loses the case. In Nigeria, he said, “a respondent who files nothing is protected by the courts” and the conviction is allowed to stand.

IPOB maintained that the 2013 Act was repealed and replaced by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, and that the 2022 law contains transitional provisions requiring ongoing cases to continue under the new law. Citing the Supreme Court decision in State v. Egigia (2024) LPELR-62009(SC), the group said a repealed penal law “is dead” and cannot be used for a conviction.

The statement directly accused Justice Omotosho of convicting Kanu under the 2013 law after quoting the Supreme Court principle that a conviction requires written law.

“He announced the rule. He quoted the Supreme Court. He used the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013 corpse anyway,” Powerful said.

IPOB described the act not as an “error” but as deliberate, adding that the judge “knew his judgment is indefensible” and that is why the Attorney-General has not defended it on appeal.

The group pointed to October 13, 2022, when the Court of Appeal discharged Kanu. IPOB said the court within 14 days constituted a special panel to stay that discharge.

“Fourteen days to keep him in chains. Endless silence now that he asks for a hearing,” the statement read. “That is not a busy court. That is a court that knows which way power blows.”

IPOB addressed three institutions in the statement:

To the Attorney-General of the Federation: “You missed the filing because you have no living law to put in a brief.”

To the President of the Court of Appeal: “Explain why your court can move mountains to keep a man in custody but cannot move a file to hear his appeal.”

To Justice Omotosho: “You recited the Constitution. You recited the Supreme Court. You then convicted under a dead repealed statute.”

The group also called on the international community to ask the Nigerian government publicly: “What living Act, and what section, governed the conviction of 20 November 2025?”

IPOB said its “single demand” is for the Court of Appeal to list the case.

“List the appeal. Put the living law on the table. Or admit the conviction is a fraud and release him,” Powerful stated.

The statement concluded: “No writt law, no conviction. The law is dead and buried. A dead law cannot carry a living conviction. The conviction of Onyendu Mazi Nnamd Kanu is void. It is a nullity.”