The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has condemned the life imprisonment sentence handed down to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, describing it as a direct assault on the Igbo people and a sign of Nigeria’s worsening ethnic and political crisis.
In a strongly worded statement issued by its leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, MASSOB declared that the judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court amounted to “sentencing Ndigbo to life imprisonment in Nigeria.”
Madu said MASSOB rejects the ruling in its entirety, insisting that “it is unacceptable to us.”
He accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of plunging the country into deeper chaos, saying, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has finally set Nigeria on irredeemable fire. He has finally shot the Nigerian state on her deteriorated foundation.”
According to the group, the judgment was not justice but “vengeance from a man playing a script loaded with pathological hatred and jealousy against Ndigbo, using Nnamdi Kanu as a standard for Igbo attack.”
MASSOB further took direct aim at the trial judge, claiming they witnessed “the unpretended and open anger and tribalistic nature of Justice James Omotosho during his bias and evil ruling, sentencing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to his master’s prison.”
“Words from London now carry a heavier penalty than mass murder” — MASSOB
The group described Kanu’s conviction as a historical travesty, noting that he was sentenced to life imprisonment “for words spoken from foreign soil,” despite being “illegally kidnapped from Kenya, ignoring a United Nations ruling demanding his release, and prosecuted under a law that no longer exists.”
MASSOB contrasted Kanu’s fate with that of Boko Haram co-founder and terrorist commander Mamman Nur, who they alleged was responsible for more than 2,000 deaths but was recently sentenced to only five years in prison.
“In Nigeria today, words from London carry a heavier penalty than mass murder,” the statement read.
Kanu targeted for exposing ‘radical jihad consuming Nigeria’ — MASSOB
MASSOB said the true reason for Kanu’s ordeal was his outspoken criticism of terrorism and alleged state complicity.
“The real crime of Mazi was his bold exposure of the radical Islamic jihad consuming Nigeria and the government’s symbiotic relationship with Islamic jihadists. That message, once controversial, is now undeniable.”
The group called the administration a “brutal, lawless, totalitarian and genocidal regime of a clueless president.”
UN, Kenya, U.S. all contradict Nigeria — MASSOB
MASSOB reiterated that Kanu’s 2021 capture in Kenya amounted to illegal rendition, not extradition, citing a ruling by Kenyan High Court Justice Anthony Mrima in June 2025, who described the abduction as “a blatant violation of his fundamental rights.”
The group also referenced findings by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2022 and 2025, which declared Kanu’s detention “arbitrary” and recommended his immediate release.
Furthermore, MASSOB stressed that the U.S. government does not recognize IPOB as a terrorist organization, saying, “The U.S. State Department has, since 2017, stated on record that the United States of America has not considered IPOB as a terrorist organization.”
“This injustice is against Ndigbo” — MASSOB
MASSOB insisted that Kanu’s conviction under a repealed law without a saving clause was a blatant miscarriage of justice.
“This injustice is not against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, it is against Ndigbo,” the statement declared.
“Ndigbo have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Nigeria.”
