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Supporters of convicted IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu are set to stage a large-scale demonstration in Aba, Abia State on Thursday, billed as a “One Million March” by its organisers and timed amid his ongoing appeal against a life sentence handed down by a federal court in Abuja less than four months ago.
The march, convened under the banner of the Coalition of Lovers of Freedom, is scheduled to take place in the commercial hub of Aba in the heart of Nigeria’s South-East. Organisers have urged supporters from across the region to converge on Aba to peacefully demand Kanu’s freedom, with a flyer circulated widely on social media reading: “This is the mother of all marches. Wherever you are, head to Aba on 12th March 2026 and march peacefully for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.” The coalition has not disclosed any central organisational structure, named leadership, or liaison with state or local authorities.
A former Abia State House of Assembly member, Obinna Ichita, issued a public appeal on Wednesday urging participants to observe strict discipline during the gathering. “As Aba citizens prepare to gather tomorrow, I appeal to all participants to act with responsibility, discipline and civility,” Ichita said in a statement.
“Let us express our concerns peacefully, respect the authority of security operatives and resist any attempt to politicise the gathering.” He added that his call was guided by “ongoing efforts by responsible leaders to secure a peaceful and constructive resolution.”
Kanu, the founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra, was convicted on November 20, 2025 by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja following a trial that stretched across a decade and involved four separate presiding judges. Omotosho found Kanu guilty on all seven terrorism-related counts and sentenced him to life imprisonment, saying that prosecutors had proved beyond reasonable doubt that his broadcasts and directives to IPOB members incited deadly attacks on security forces and civilians across Nigeria’s South-East. The judge noted that Kanu ought, under the law, to have received the death penalty given the gravity of the offences and his lack of remorse, but commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, stating he drew on Biblical precedent in doing so. All seven sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The court imposed life imprisonment on five of the seven counts, a 20-year term without the option of a fine on a sixth, and five years without the option of a fine on the seventh. Kanu was also ordered to surrender both his Nigerian and British passports and to be held in protective custody without access to digital devices. He was absent from the courtroom when the judgment was delivered, having been ejected by security agents after objecting loudly to the proceedings and refusing to accept the court’s jurisdiction to proceed.
On February 4, 2026, Kanu personally filed a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, challenging his conviction and sentences on 22 grounds. In the appeal, which he signed himself, Kanu argued that Justice Omotosho erred in law by failing to resolve foundational procedural questions arising from the 2017 military raid on his home in Afara-Ukwu, Abia State, during Operation Python Dance II — an operation he contended disrupted the integrity of the original trial process. He further argued that the judge proceeded to deliver judgment while a pending preliminary objection on the competence of the proceedings had not been heard or determined. Kanu told the appellate court he intended to participate in the hearing of the appeal in person and conduct part of his argument orally before the court. No hearing date for the appeal has been publicly scheduled.
The legal history underpinning the protest stretches back to October 2015, when Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on charges of treasonable felony and sedition, stemming from his role as director of the UK-based Radio Biafra, which Nigerian authorities characterised as a vehicle for inciting revolt and promoting secession. He was released on bail by Justice Binta Nyako in April 2017 but disappeared from public view after soldiers raided his family compound in September of that year. The Federal Government subsequently designated IPOB a terrorist organisation and amended the charges against Kanu to include terrorism counts, reflecting broadcasts he made during his years abroad — including during the 2020 #EndSARS anti-police protests.
He was apprehended in Kenya in June 2021 and returned to Nigeria under circumstances his lawyers characterised as an unlawful extraordinary rendition, a challenge that formed part of his defence submissions throughout the trial.
Justice Omotosho, who took over the case in March 2025 as its fourth presiding judge, the previous three having withdrawn after Kanu accused each of bias, noted in his judgment that throughout the trial, Kanu had “remained arrogant, cocky and full of himself without realising the magnitude of his crime and the effects of what he has done against his people in the South-East.”
Read Also: Nnamdi Kanu: IPOB Finally Cancels Sit-At-Home In South-East
The conviction drew immediate criticism from senior legal figures. Former lawmaker and legal scholar Uche Onyeagucha argued that the trial was fundamentally flawed, contending that Justice Omotosho had violated Sections 267 and 349(6)(b) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 by allowing Kanu to represent himself on charges carrying life imprisonment — provisions that, he argued, required the court to assign the accused legal representation rather than permit self-representation. Kanu’s former solicitor, Aloy Ejimakor, said the sentence would not stand and described the conviction as a political act. Thursday’s Aba demonstration is the latest in a series of protests that have escalated since the November 2025 verdict.
A nationwide protest convened in October 2025 by activist Omoyele Sowore of the #RevolutionNow movement, held in defiance of a federal court injunction, disrupted commercial activities in Abuja and several South-East states, with police deploying tear gas against protesters in parts of the Federal Capital Territory. A separate protest in Aba in January 2026 drew thousands to the city streets and proceeded without significant incident. The South-East region has experienced periodic sit-at-home compliance linked to IPOB directives since Kanu’s re-arrest in 2021, with the Monday sit-at-home orders disrupting commerce, transport, and schooling across Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu states for extended periods.
Read Also: Nnamdi Kanu Finally Appeals Life Sentence
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, who has taken a publicly conciliatory approach to the Kanu question, visited Kanu in prison following the conviction and pledged to pursue an administrative resolution to the matter. The federal government has not publicly indicated any willingness to consider a pardon or early release. President Bola Tinubu’s administration has not commented directly on Thursday’s planned Aba demonstration.
The Nigerian Police Force and the Abia State Command have not issued public statements specifically addressing security arrangements for the march. No court order restraining the demonstration has been reported. The appeal before the Court of Appeal in Abuja remains pending, with no procedural date confirmed.
