One day after the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment on terrorism charges, his wife, Uchechi Okwu Kanu, has released a strongly worded and emotional response, accusing the court of delivering what she described as a monumental injustice.
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In a 10 minute video that went viral on Friday, 21 November 2025, Uchechi said the judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho was driven by personal vendetta rather than the principles of justice. She described the ruling as an attempt to silence her husband and suppress the aspirations of those he represents.
“My heart is shattered. Ten years of agony and now this?” she said. “Nnamdi is a father, a husband, a leader fighting for his people’s dignity, not a terrorist. They have silenced his voice, but they cannot silence the cry of a people for freedom.”
The video, which has attracted tens of thousands of views and is widely shared under the hashtags FreeNnamdiKanu and JusticeForMNK, has reignited anger among IPOB supporters who insist the trial was politically motivated. Kanu’s legal team has vowed to appeal the ruling, describing it as a premeditated injustice that must be overturned.
In a more detailed follow-up reaction, Uchechi accused Justice Omotosho of failing to comply with constitutional requirements during the trial. She claimed that under Nigerian law, no defendant can be directed to open a defence on terrorism-related charges without the court first reading the written law under which the person is being tried. She alleged that the judge read from a prepared script while delivering the sentence.
“What Omotosho has done is a script handed over to him. Everyone could hear him. Everyone could see that he could barely read some of the words in his own written judgment,” she said.
She further argued that Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution requires that no person be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence is clearly defined and the penalty prescribed in a written law. According to her, Kanu was compelled to respond to charges framed under a repealed law, and the court refused to provide the written rulings required to guide the defence.
Uchechi said the judge repeatedly blocked Kanu’s attempts to file a final written address, insisting that it was his constitutional right to do so. She claimed that Omotosho ignored or refused to issue rulings on critical applications filed by the defence.
@thenigerialawyerKanu’s Wife, Uchechi, Condemns Husband’s Life Sentence, Accuses Judge Of Reading “Scripted Judgment” In Viral Video
“You cannot ask me to put my final address in writing and then block it,” she said. “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has the right to submit a final address, but Omotosho prevented that and instead read out the counts he called a judgment.”
The Federal High Court had on Thursday convicted Kanu on all seven terrorism charges brought against him by the Department of State Services. Justice Omotosho held that the prosecution presented credible evidence and that Kanu failed to enter any defence, choosing instead to rest his case on the prosecution’s evidence.
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