Pecohub The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, has rejected the court judgment that sentenced the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, describing it as unjust and politically motivated.
In a statement issued on Friday, MASSOB leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, said the ruling delivered by Justice James Omotosho amounted to “a life imprisonment sentence on Ndigbo in Nigeria,” insisting that the decision was fuelled by prejudice and targeted discrimination.
Madu alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration had “set Nigeria on an irredeemable path” with the judgment, claiming that the court’s ruling represented “vengeance” rather than justice.
He criticized the conduct of the presiding judge, accusing him of bias and tribal sentiment in delivering the verdict. MASSOB also argued that Kanu was wrongfully prosecuted under a repealed anti-terrorism law.
The group further recalled that Kanu was “illegally rendered” from Kenya in 2021, citing a ruling by Kenyan High Court Justice Anthony Mrima in June 2025, which held that the operation violated his fundamental rights.
MASSOB also referenced opinions by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2022 and 2025, which classified Kanu’s detention as arbitrary and called for his release.
MASSOB contrasted Kanu’s sentencing with that of Mamman Nur, a Boko Haram co-founder linked to mass killings, who reportedly received a five-year prison term, arguing that the disparity reflects deep injustice in Nigeria’s judicial system.
The group noted that the United States has not designated IPOB as a terrorist organisation, pointing to repeated clarifications by the U.S. State Department since 2017.
Describing the judgment as a collective attack on the Igbo, MASSOB said: “This injustice is not only against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; it is against Ndigbo. Ndigbo have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Nigeria.”
