Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, wife of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu, has strongly criticised the life sentence issued to her husband by the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing the presiding judge of disregarding key constitutional safeguards.
Reacting to Thursday’s judgment, Mrs Kanu argued that Nigerian law requires a judge to cite the specific legislation under which a defendant is being tried before directing them to open their defence. She alleged that Justice James Omotosho failed to meet this standard.
According to her, the judge “read from a script” and struggled through sections of the verdict, which she claimed was based on a repealed law.
“A person shall not be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence and penalty are clearly defined in a written law,” she said, referencing Section 36 of the Constitution. “What happened today was simply a script handed to him.”
She further criticised the court for refusing to issue written rulings on critical applications. Mrs Kanu said her husband was told to include his objections in his final address yet the court later blocked him from submitting that address.
Justice Omotosho had earlier stated that the prosecution presented adequate evidence to prove all seven terrorism charges laid against Kanu, adding that the IPOB leader declined to mount a defence and instead chose to rely on the prosecution’s case. The judge said this left the court “with no alternative.”
Kanu has been in government custody since his arrest and return to Nigeria in 2021. The charges were brought by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Mrs Kanu maintained that her husband’s trial was mishandled, calling the process a violation of his rights.
“You cannot ask someone to write a final address and then prevent them from submitting it,” she said. “It is a clear miscarriage of justice.”
She vowed to continue challenging the judgment through legal and public channels.