Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that the life imprisonment handed to IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was part of a “pre-written script” orchestrated by the Nigerian state, claiming the trial lacked transparency and was politically motivated.
Speaking on Perspective, hosted by Ruth Oseme on Arise News, Sowore said he had foreknowledge of the judgment days before it was delivered, adding that security agents acted violently to suppress public protests.
“Everything that played out on the day of his conviction was already known to us. On November 5, before the judgment, I posted publicly that the plan was to sentence him to death. We organised protests. His lawyers were attacked, we were tear-gassed, arrested and detained for four days. There was a deliberate script,” Sowore said.
He claimed the government abandoned plans to impose the death penalty after anticipating major backlash, opting instead for life imprisonment. Sowore argued that despite the sentence, the “message Kanu represented” had not been defeated.
He also contrasted Kanu’s conviction with what he described as state leniency toward terror leaders responsible for mass killings, pointing out that some have moved freely in convoys, held press conferences with heavy weapons, and even impersonated law enforcement officials.
Sowore criticized the evidence presented against Kanu, noting it primarily included a microphone, radio transmitter, and clothes found in a hotel room, which he argued could not justify a life sentence, especially for someone kept incommunicado by the Department of State Services (DSS).
“How is someone in detention, with no access to the outside world, accused of ordering killings? How does he get life imprisonment while a Boko Haram commander who has slaughtered people gets 20 years?” he asked, describing the system as “animal farm justice.”
He further accused Southeast political elites of abandoning Kanu for selfish reasons, citing fears over his popularity and influence among ordinary people. Sowore claimed many politicians preferred a “political solution” that would allow them to later negotiate his release while presenting themselves as intermediaries.
“The presidency in Nigeria is extremely powerful, arguably more powerful than the U.S. presidency. The number-one cabal is the president himself and the people he appoints,” Sowore said, dismissing claims of a shadowy group controlling the security apparatus.
He added that the state’s insistence on keeping Kanu in detention is linked to his refusal to renounce self-determination, and reiterated that Nigeria harbours structural bias against the Igbo, citing the federal government’s handling of Kanu’s case as evidence of entrenched inequality.
Sowore concluded by criticizing the competence of political leaders, saying many lack the character, capacity, and strength required to govern effectively.