LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, was convicted Thursday by the Federal High Court in Abuja for committing an act of terrorism against Nigeria.
Presiding Judge James Omotosho said he found Kanu guilty of all counts after having exhausted the six days given to him to open his defense against the charges by the federal government.
Kanu was evicted from court Thursday for unruly behavior when he said, “Show me the law. Justice Omotosho, show me the law. Any judgment from this court is a kangaroo.”
IPOB is seeking to establish a separate state of Biafra for the Igbo people in the southeast. The group was founded in 2012 by Kanu, who has spoken at gatherings threatening authorities. He referred to Nigeria as a zoo, urging loyalists to take up arms against the state.
“We need guns and we need bullets. It’s either Biafra or death,” he said in a 2017 interview.
Kanu was on trial for treasonable felony, unlawful possession of arms and illegal importation of broadcast equipment at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
IPOB has continued to enforce a sit-at-home every Monday to protest his incarceration.
Kanu will be sentenced later Thursday.