Nigerians Reject “Judicial Rascality” as Outrage Deepens Over Life Sentence Handed to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu
Abuja, Nigeria – December 7, 2025
For more than two weeks, public anger has surged across Nigeria following the sentencing of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment by Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja High Court.
What was meant to be a judicial process has been widely described as a national embarrassment, a violation of due process, and a direct assault on the rule of law.
Across cities and public gatherings, Nigerians continue to express their outrage, insisting that what transpired in court was not justice, but a calculated display of lawlessness.
In one widely circulated video, a man stands before a large public crowd, holding a poster of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The message written boldly on it echoes the mood of millions:
This single moment captures the frustration of a people who have watched the judiciary turn into an instrument of political vengeance rather than a protector of constitutional rights.
For many, the sentencing of Kanu, delivered under controversial circumstances, is the final confirmation that the justice system is deeply compromised.
A Case Built on Illegality: The 2021 Extraordinary Rendition
The anger is not unfounded.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was abducted and extraordinarily renditioned from Kenya in June 2021 by Nigerian authorities, a move that violated:
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International law
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Nigeria’s own extradition procedures
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Kenya’s sovereignty
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Multiple human-rights treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory
This unlawful rendition has been condemned locally and internationally, including by The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Nigerian appellate courts, which ruled that Kanu should be released and that the federal government acted unlawfully.
Despite these clear findings, the Nigerian government refused to obey its own courts, a position unprecedented in recent judicial history.
A Sham Trial Widely Regarded as Persecution
Observers, legal experts, and human-rights organizations have repeatedly described Kanu’s trial as Shambolic, Politically motivated, and a persecution rather than prosecution.
The latest judgment by Justice Omotosho only deepened that perception.
According to lawyers close to the case, Justice Omotosho not only ignored binding appellate rulings but refused to show the legal basis upon which Kanu was being tried, an act that fundamentally undermines the essence of due process.
His refusal to reference any statutory law that justifies the life sentence has been called “judicial brigandage, a complete collapse of legal reasoning, and a stain on Nigeria’s justice system.”
In the eyes of millions, Omotosho’s judgment did not merely fail, it destroyed the law itself.
Local and International Condemnation Intensifies
Nigeria is now facing mounting pressure from human-rights bodies and international observers who see the continued detention and sentencing of Kanu as a violation of international humanitarian norms, an abuse of judicial power, and a sign that Nigeria’s judiciary has slide completely into authoritarianism.
The UN Working Group, in its earlier findings, described Kanu’s detention as arbitrary, illegal, and politically motivated, calling for his immediate release and compensation.
The Nigerian government ignored that ruling too.
The ongoing protests, public demonstrations across the globe, and social media eruptions are more than reactions to a single verdict. They reflect a broader awakening among Nigerians who are no longer willing to tolerate judicial impunity.
The man holding the poster at the public gathering became an unexpected symbol of resistance, a reminder that when the courts fail, the people will not remain silent.
Across the country, the message is the same:
“Injustice to one is injustice to all.”
“If the courts fail, democracy fails.”
The life sentence handed to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has forced a difficult national reckoning.
Nigeria long stood at a crossroads, between restoring faith in the rule of law or accelerating its descent into full-blown authoritarian injustice, and by Justice James Omotosho’s ruling has tiptoed into full-blown authoritarian injustice.
What is unfolding is not just the struggle of one man; it is a failure to the test of whether constitutionalism can survive in a climate of political vendetta.
