British citizens convicted abroad are not subject to death penalty
The Federal Government of Nigeria's recent cross-appeal seeking to elevate Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s sentence from life imprisonment to the death penalty introduces a volatile mix of domestic law, geopolitical friction and human rights disputes.
Because Mazi Nnamdi Kanu holds dual Nigerian and British citizenship, this development creates a direct diplomatic collision course between Abuja and London.
By filing a cross-appeal to demand the death penalty, the Federal Government has demonstrated a surprising ignorance of the consequences of contemplating death penalty on a British citizen ‘convicted’ abroad.
From the diplomatic and legal standpoint, Britain has a rigid, non-negotiable foreign policy against the death penalty and vehemently opposes capital punishment in all circumstances, worldwide, as a matter of principle.
For a British citizen convicted abroad, the UK government is bound by consular and diplomatic protocols to intervene actively by escalating from standard consular monitoring to high-level diplomatic pressure and it will be intense.
And these consequences go beyond Britain, as it often triggers a wider diplomatic backlash, potentially affecting foreign aid, trade agreements and bilateral relations between Nigeria and Western nations who align with the UK's stance against the death penalty.
#AloyEjimakor.
IPOB PRESS STATEMENT
SUBJECT: Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Accepts In Toto the Federal Government's Cross-Appeal Damning Admission: Trial Court Acted Without Jurisdiction — A Total Collapse That the Court of Appeal Cannot Cure
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wishes to draw the attention of the world, the international community, and all men of conscience to yet another spectacular self-inflicted wound by the APC-led Federal Government of Nigeria in its desperate attempt to keep Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in perpetual bondage.
In its Notice of Cross-Appeal filed against the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja (Coram: Hon. Justice J.K. Omotosho), delivered on the 20th day of November, 2025, the Federal Government unequivocally declared in black and white that the trial Court acted without jurisdiction when it imposed life imprisonment on Counts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.
Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the indefatigable Lion of Biafra and Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, accepts this premise in toto. We adopt the Federal Government’s own words as our own. If the trial Court acted without jurisdiction at the sentencing phase, then the entire sentencing exercise is a nullity ab initio. Jurisdiction is not divisible. It is a sacred continuum. You cannot validly convict a man and then lack jurisdiction to sentence him on the same counts. That is judicial absurdity.
As the Supreme Court made clear in the immortal Madukolu v. Nkemdilim (1962), once there is a feature in the case that prevents the court from exercising jurisdiction, the entire proceedings are null and void no matter how well conducted. The Federal Government has now supplied that fatal feature through its own pleading. With the greatest respect, the Court of Appeal lacks the power to repair, cure, or resuscitate what the Respondent itself has declared jurisdictionally dead.
The FG cannot approbate and reprobate. They cannot admit the sentencing phase was conducted without jurisdiction and in the same breath urge the Court of Appeal to impose the death penalty on that same rotten foundation. This is not law; this is legal gymnastics born out of desperation and bad faith.
If the ill-thought-out Cross-Appeal orchestrated by the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Chief Awomolo, SAN, and the Yoruba APC Presidency is aimed at intimidating Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu into renouncing Biafra, then they have grossly miscalculated. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the reincarnation of the indomitable Biafran spirit and will never yield to such cheap blackmail. Other former freedom fighters may be cowards, but not Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. To the FG, we say: bring it on.
This self-destructive Cross-Appeal is a clear manifestation of divine intervention and the inevitable collapse of the entire fabricated case against Onyendu. The Federal Government has handed us the sledgehammer to demolish their own conviction. The sentencing is void. The foundation is shattered. The entire prosecution stands on quicksand.
We call on the Court of Appeal to do justice by dismissing the Cross-Appeal with ignominy and allowing the Appellant’s main appeal in its entirety, leading to the immediate and unconditional release of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The world is watching. History is watching. No amount of judicial acrobatics or cheap intimidation can cure a fundamental lack of jurisdiction. The Lion of Biafra remains unbowed, and the spirit of Biafra remains unconquerable.
Signed:
Emma Powerful
Spokesperson, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
07 June 2026.
Why are more & more soldiers being deployed to Southeast? I was in Sokoto until yesterday & I didn’t see a single military or even police checkpoint or presence, even around the prison. The Southeast I know & traverse daily remains the most peaceful. So, I wonder why.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BIAFRA QUEEN HER EXCELLENCY THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF UNITED STATE OF BIAFRA GOVERNMENT DR. NGOZI ORABUEZE. @USBGovernment@USBDPM@ngoziora YOUR IMPACT WILL ALARM
I speak for the majority of Ndi Igbo — we are tired of Nigeria.
Ndi Igbo demand that the Nigerian government in collaboration with the international communities organize and conduct a referendum in Eastern Nigeria
Igbo self-determination is what we want!
It is my Birthday today 3rd March. I thank God for the gift of life, his blessings, protection, guidance and wisdom. The sacrifices and challenges of good leadership are unparalleled but with God and the prayers of the good People of Biafra, the load is lighter.
For #Ndigbo, MAZI NNAMDI KANU is the main issue & will remain so until sound justice is done. Whether you admit it or not, his incarceration will significantly affect the general elections, especially in the Southeast where mighty politicians will fall or rise on account of it.
BREAKING MNK's 22 Grounds of Appeal – The Critical Loophole Exposed BREAKING NEWS: The Truth About #MNK's Appeal EXPOSED! 🚨 In this explosive update, we dive deep into the 22 grounds of appeal filed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's legal team.
Today marks exactly six months since my major surgery. I spent the day attempting to secure an appointment for a follow-up check-up. I do not take the amount of rest required for my total healing but I am mapping out better ways for Nnabuikem to help.
Through this experience, I have come to appreciate the importance of sharing essential and accurate information, particularly as I am perceived through multiple perspectives. At the right time, any information I choose to share is intended solely for those who genuinely care and who value truth, honesty, and freedom.
While millions are being squandered on propaganda and influence peddling, the real work for justice continues quietly in the corridors of power in Washington, D.C.
In this video, author and business strategist Mark Faust of Cincinnati, Ohio, is seen with Chief Evans Nwankwo of Ambassadors for Self-Determination, working under the instruction of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to advance the diplomatic offensive in the United States.
Away from the cameras and the noise, credible voices are engaging lawmakers, policymakers, and opinion leaders on the unlawful detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the persecution of Judeo-Christian communities, and the urgent need for a peaceful, lawful resolution of the Biafra question.
What $9 million cannot buy is conviction.
What propaganda cannot suppress is truth.
From Cincinnati to Capitol Hill, the push for justice, self-determination, and the restoration of Biafra’s sovereignty is gaining momentum—driven not by money, but by principle, persistence, and the moral force of a people determined to be free.
The world is watching. And history is taking note.
@SaharaReporters@DailyPostNGR@GuardianNigeria@LeadershipNGA@vanguardngrnews@nigeriantribune@channelstv@NGRSenate@officialABAT@StateDept@AIT_Online@ARISEtv
WEDNESDAY MUSING
ACTIVISM, THE PRICE OF CONSCIENCE, AND THE THEATRE OF PERSECUTION
When a State Puts History on Trial and Calls It Justice
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
v.
CHIEF MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN
Human rights activism has never been a gentleman’s pastime. It is, by its very nature, an inconvenient vocation, one that unsettles power, interrogates authority, and stubbornly refuses to genuflect when the State elects impunity over justice. Across jurisdictions and generations, history records a consistent pattern: those who insist on holding governments to account are rarely thanked; they are instead repaid with suspicion, vilification, and, more often than not, persecution carefully camouflaged as lawful scrutiny.
Nigeria is no exception.
From the grim era of military absolutism to our present, fragile democratic experiment, the country’s political evolution has been shaped, sometimes rescued, by men and women who dared to resist arbitrary power. During the pro-democracy struggles of the 1980s and 1990s, a constellation of courageous voices rose against Decrees, Edicts, detentions, and the violent hijack of the people’s mandate. Among them were individuals who would later ascend to the highest offices of the land, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who himself paid dearly through forced exile, harassment, and profound political sacrifice.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with such political actors were uncompromising legal sentinels, Gani Fawehinmi, Beko Ransome- Kuti,Olisa Agbakoba, Mike Ozekhome @OzekhomeMike , Femi Falana, and a host of other activists who weaponised the law itself against tyranny and dictatorship. That was an era when activism was neither fashionable nor monetised; it was not curated for social media applause. It was costly. It was dangerous. And it was real. Some died.Some went on exile. Some were maimed and many others were detained or imprisoned after questionable trials.
Gani Fawehinmi, of blessed memory, went further still. He challenged not only military juntas but, whenever conscience so demanded, even the Nigerian Bar Association itself, if he perceived a deviation from its foundational ethos. That was activism in its purest form: principled, solitary, and unyielding.
It is against this historical canvas that the present ordeal of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, must be situated and understood. He was one of the trail blazers of activism having co-founded the Civil Liberties Organization ( CLO) in 1987.
THE FALSE NARATIVE ABOUT THE LONDON TRIBUNAL JUDGMENT
Since the gravamen of the present charge traces its origin to the judgment of the United Kingdom First-Tier Tribunal concerning No. 79 Randall Avenue, London, it is both necessary and instructive, particularly for readers unfamiliar with that decision, to draw attention to its most salient findings. Some people deliberately skewed the narrative.
The dispute before the Tribunal arose from an objection to the registration of the property by Chief Ozekhome and Mr Tali Shani who had given it to him for legal services rendered for him and General J.T. Useni (of blessed memory) , purportedly raised on behalf of a phantom individual styled “Ms. Tani Shali.”( the Applicant). Chief Ozekhome was the Respondent.
At page 33, paragraph 123 of the judgment, the Tribunal completely trashed Ms Tali Shani's case and false evidence against Ozekhome and held:
“In short, I believe barely a word of the documentary and oral evidence which has been put forward on behalf of the alleged Applicant (Ms Tani Shali). I do not accept that ‘she’ was ever a real living person. I do not accept that ‘she’ therefore died, whether in hospital or in a mysterious car accident on the road to Abuja. I certainly do not accept that ‘she’ purchased this property in London in 1993 in her ‘hey days’.”
The Tribunal went further. At paragraph 125, it found that:
“A large number of documents in this case purportedly establishing the identity of Ms Tami Shani , have been produced or procured by forgery or deception", including all identity documents, witness statements purportedly made by her and General Useni; fabricated medical letters, a fraudulent death certificate, and even a fictitious notice of her funeral and burial rites. They also included false identity documents, NIN, and ECOWAS Travel document.These findings were made against the Applicant, a fanthom not existent woman,and not against Ozekhome or his witness, a living man who testified before the Tribunal. Indeed, it was Ozekhome who wrote to various government agencies which held these documents to be fake and forged.
Crucially, and fatally for the false narrative undertaken by Ozekhome’s haters and traducers, the Tribunal made a clear and unequivocal distinction between the fictitious Ms.Tani Shali who purported to be General Useni’s mistress so as to make false ownership claim of the property, and the real Mr. Tali Shani who duly gave evidence of ownership on behalf of Ozekhome ( the Respondent).
At paragraph 168, the Tribunal tellingly held:
“Unlike the fictitious ‘Ms. Tali Shani’, a man going by the name of Mr. Tali Shani exists and gave evidence before me in that name.A certified copy of an official Nigerian passport was produced both to the Land Registry and this Tribunal, stating that Mr Tali Shani was born on 2nd April 1973.I do not have the evidence, or any sufficient basis, to find that this document - unlike the poor and pitiful forgeries on the side of the "Applicant"….is forged, and I do not do so.”
It is therefore unfortunate that inspite of these clear findings, some people still deliberately twist this particular finding to impute forgery of the passport on Ozekhome, when ownership of same was claimed by a living person who gave evidence and was believed by the Tribunal.
Indeed,the Tribunal completely exonerated Chief Ozekhome of any wrongdoing when it further found, at paragraph 200, that:
“There is no question of this being some sort of attempt by the Respondent ( Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN) to steal the General’s property without his knowledge.”
It further found that General Useni indeed owned the property,albeit registered in a false name of Mr Tali Shani; and that Useni obviously desired to and indeed transferred it to Ozekhome using the name Tali Shani ( par 202). It also found that Ozekhome’s knowledge as regards ownership of the property through the title deeds only commenced in 2019,and not 1993 when it was first bought.
THE MOST REVEALING IRONY
I recall vividly the only occasion Chief Ozekhome was invited by the ICPC, an invitation he dutifully honoured. He was informed categorically that the Commission’s initial position was that no such human being as Tali Shani existed at all. That illusion is instantly shattered by the fact that the said Mr Tali Shani who is a breathing living individual gave evidence before the London Tribunal on June 11,2024,and also made statement before the EFCC which had actually detained and interviewed him before the sudden emergence of the the ICPC on the scene.
One would reasonably expect that a serious investigative body would have referred to its sister agency and not commenced another fresh investigation probably to "shine".
Instead, in what can only be described as prosecutorial haste bordering on institutional embarrassment, the ICPC sprinted to court clutching a charge founded upon a premise already disproved by the findings of the London Tribunal.
One is tempted to ask, with measured sarcasm: was the investigation concluded before it began?
CONCLUSION: A CALL FOR SOBRIETY, NOT SENTIMENT
Against this overwhelming factual and judicial backdrop, the present prosecution appears less a quest for justice than an unfortunate misadventure in optics and reputational attrition against Ozekhome.
It is my firm, considered, and dispassionate view that this is precisely the type of case the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation would be well advised to urgently review and withdraw the charge from court.This would serve the public interest far better than persevering in a cause targeted at an individual.
Justice is not served by insisting on attempts at deliberately damaging Ozekhome’s high reputation and towering image.
The rule of law is not strengthened by vendetta.
And history is rarely kind to institutions that mistake persecution for prosecution.
This is my humble view.
SIGNED:
Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Esq. (KSC)
Dunu-Ezeugosinachi
28 January, 2026
Ndigbo are proud of being TRADERS. It’s trading that enabled Ndigbo to convert £20 in 1970 to trillions today. It’s trading that pioneered the Igbo apprenticeship system that is acclaimed worldwide. But Ndigbo are not “traders of US airstrikes”. Stop the veiled ethnic baiting.
The truth about the January 1966 coup.
“The January 15, 1966 coup was NOT an Igbo coup. How can it be an Igbo coup when it was halted by Igbo officers?” — Gen. Chukwuemeka Ojukwu
Watch. Retweet. 🙏