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By Myke Agunwa, Abuja
Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has called for calm and dialogue following the conviction and sentencing of the leader of The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to life imprisonment by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Ojukwu, in a series of tweets on Friday after her return from a five-day Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) monitoring exercise in Zanzibar, Tanzania, said the judgment came as a painful shock.
“This is not the outcome we anticipated or prayed for, but it is a reality that is now upon us,” she said.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday found Kanu guilty on seven terrorism-related charges, including broadcasting inciting messages and threatening foreign diplomatic missions.
Justice Omotosho sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment on the most serious counts and imposed additional terms of 20 and 5 years on lesser charges. He noted that although the law permits the death penalty, he opted against it on moral and international grounds, citing global trends against capital punishment.
This latest judgment marks a dramatic turn in Kanu’s long-running legal battle. Over the years, several courts had dismissed major portions of the case.
In April 2022, Justice Binta Nyako struck out 8 of the 15 charges, ruling that many lacked substance.
Later, in 2023, the Court of Appeal discharged him on grounds relating to his extradition, though the Supreme Court overturned that discharge and returned the case to trial. Until the Omotosho ruling, no court had secured a final conviction or imposed a custodial sentence.
In the wake of the new sentence, Ojukwu appealed to Ndigbo and Nigerians everywhere to respond with patience rather than outrage.
“There comes a time in the history of a people when there is need for calm. That time is now,” she said.
She warned that any inflammatory actions could further escalate tensions both at home and in the diaspora.
“Beating the drums of fury and sabre-rattling will only generate diminishing returns, and in the worst case, yet another wasteland.”
The former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain stressed that the path forward must be guided by dialogue, not confrontation. She called for an urgent, unified engagement of all Igbo stakeholders — governors, senators, House of Representatives members, traditional rulers, clergy, business leaders, and political actors, to jointly interface with the federal government on a political resolution.
She reassured citizens and international partners that despite the heavy outcome, there remain credible prospects for a peaceful and just solution.
“Now is the time for us all in Ala Igbo to put all hands on deck and to have a joint engagement involving all the South Eastern states,” she said.
According to her, only a coordinated, sincere dialogue can address the deep concerns surrounding Kanu’s case and reduce national anxiety.