Nigerian government plotting to “kill me slowly” — Nnamdi Kanu cries out

Nigerian government plotting to “kill me slowly” — Nnamdi Kanu cries out

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), said on Tuesday that he believes the Nigerian authorities are deliberately keeping him in detention until he is near death so they can release him “to go and die outside.”

The remark came after a Federal High Court in Abuja moved forward a scheduled ruling in his case to Friday, September 26, 2025.

Kanu, who has been held by Nigerian authorities since his arrest in Kenya in June 2021, made the comment in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) after Justice James Omotosho abruptly brought forward the date for the court’s consideration of his lawyers’ no-case submission. His trial on treasonable felony and terrorism-related charges had previously been set for October 10.

The defence team had filed a no-case submission and argued that Kanu should be urgently released on medical grounds so he could receive proper care outside detention. Kanu and his lawyers say the court’s decision to hear the matter earlier — they had expected an October ruling — amounts to further frustration of their bid for medical release.

In the video, the IPOB leader told supporters: “When they calculate that am about to give up, they will now say go, so when I go outside I will die outside; that’s what they are trying to do.” The clip was circulated on social media on Tuesday and reported by several Nigerian outlets.

Kanu’s arrest and transfer from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 has itself been the subject of extensive litigation. Kenyan courts and appeals courts in other jurisdictions have questioned the circumstances of his detention and transfer, and parts of those proceedings have described his removal as unlawful. The rendition and subsequent legal battles remain a central part of Kanu’s defence and the wider public debate over his trial.

With the matter now fixed for September 26, both sides will await Justice Omotosho’s ruling on the no-case application — a decision that could determine whether the trial proceeds or whether Kanu is discharged on the specific legal grounds argued by his defence. Supporters and critics alike are watching closely, and tensions remain high around the proceedings.