The family of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has given fresh insight into his reaction after he was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
PROMPTNEWS reports that Kanu was on Thursday handed a life sentence by Justice James K. Omotosho, who found him guilty of terrorism-related offences — a verdict that has triggered nationwide debate and protests in parts of the South-East.
In an update posted on Facebook, the agitator’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, said he met with the IPOB leader shortly after the judgment was delivered.
According to him, Kanu laughed when asked for his thoughts on the ruling and questioned how the trial judge could convict him “under a repealed law,” insisting such an action rendered the entire process invalid.
“Following my meeting with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I asked for his thoughts on the judgement of James K. Omotosho,” Prince Kanu wrote. “His response was laughter, accompanied by a question regarding the plausibility of the judge’s authority to convict him under a repealed law, thereby invalidating all actions.”
He added that Kanu dismissed the conviction as biased, alleging that the prosecution relied on “fabricated and non-existent evidence.”
Prince Kanu said his brother also asked about earlier court rulings that had reportedly cleared him of some of the charges, before concluding that the latest judgement was “a predetermined script.”
The update is the family’s first public comment since the conviction, as reactions continue to pour in from political groups, civil society organisations and legal commentators across the country.