Nnamdi Kanu’s “Avoidable Ordeal”: Former Counsel Blames Social-Media-Driven Legal Team for Conviction

Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, a former counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu—who was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment for treasonable felony and terrorism by the Federal High Court in Abuja—has faulted what he described as the legal misrepresentation that culminated in the separatist leader’s conviction.

In a statement titled “Nnamdi Kanu’s Avoidable Ordeal: How Amateur Legal Showmen Led a High Profile Case into a Judicial Ambush,” Ejiofor recalled that he had served on Kanu’s defence team from 2015 until 2022, when Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, assumed leadership. According to him, the team had been close to securing another major breakthrough after the Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted Kanu in 2022, following years of what he described as strategic diplomacy and airtight legal manoeuvring.

He said the progress was derailed after sensitive details of their strategy were revealed by Kanu to “clueless clowns” who neither understood the legal complexities nor supported the strategy. Instead, he alleged, they exploited the information to orchestrate a change in the legal team, forcing his group to exit with “integrity intact.”

Ejiofor said the new approach transformed a sensitive international legal battle into a “grotesque parody of legal representation,” accusing some members of the team of prioritising social-media appearances over substantive legal work. “Instead of crafting legal strategy, they crafted Instagram stories. Instead of mastering case law, they mastered camera angles,” he said, adding that vital court sessions were overshadowed by posing for videos, filming and grandstanding.

He criticised the encouragement of self-representation during a complex criminal trial despite explicit warnings from the court, calling it reckless. According to him, the team’s “falsehoods, half-truths and misleading updates” on social media created contradictions that the prosecution took advantage of.

Ejiofor also questioned how respected Senior Advocates of Nigeria such as Chief Kanu Agabi and Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu became disengaged at a critical moment, allowing inexperienced lawyers to take over a matter of global attention and reduce it to what he described as a “TikTok legal carnival.”

On the way forward, Ejiofor said any meaningful intervention must begin with cleaning up the damage caused by what he termed “self-advertising jesters.” He stressed that only a sober, professional review of strategy—combined with reduced publicity—could pave the way for coherent legal and political action. “This is not the time for comedy or inflated egos. It is time for competence and real advocacy,” he said.

In a related development, Kanu’s wife, Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, criticised members of her husband’s legal team for failing to inform her of his transfer to a Sokoto correctional facility. She said she learned of the development only after he had arrived, while some of his lawyers had already publicised the move on social media. She described the behaviour as unprofessional and warned them to “behave in a civilised and professional manner.”

Meanwhile, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South, said the life sentence handed to Kanu did not come as a surprise.

Abia State Governor Alex Otti also reacted, assuring that efforts to secure Kanu’s release were ongoing despite the conviction. In a personal statement, he said he had engaged federal authorities since December 2023 on an alternative resolution strategy. He criticised the early handling of the IPOB issue but expressed confidence that diplomatic engagements could still lead to Kanu’s freedom. Otti appealed for calm and urged politicians to desist from exploiting the situation for political gain.

With assurances from the federal government and ongoing engagements, Otti said he remained optimistic that “a resolution is in sight and Mazi Kanu will regain his freedom.”