American Organizations Deny Allegations of Kanu Plotting Bomb Attacks Abroad

The accusation made in Justice James Omotosho’s ruling that Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), planned to bomb American and British missions in Nigeria has been denied by U.S.-based pro-Igbo advocacy groups, who characterize it as a “fabrication” meant to demonize him.

The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) President, Dr. Sylvester Onyia, U.S.-based Catholic priest and Rising Sun Coordinator, Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa, and Executive Director of Ambassador for Self-Determination, Ben Nwankwo, discussed the position at a joint press conference in the United States on Friday. The briefing was made available to journalists.

The groups said in their statement, “Justice Omotosho’s Fictional ‘Bomb Plot’ Against U.S. and UK Missions: A Manufactured Lie That Collapses His Judgment Against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” that the judge had included a story in his ruling that had never been mentioned in the court proceedings.

The group declared, “We address you today on one central, shocking point in the judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu: the claim that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu planned to bomb the British and United States missions in Nigeria.”

“We declare openly and without fear of rebuttal: Throughout the entire trial, this accusation was never charged, never testified to, never tendered in evidence, and never mentioned by any witness.”

“It is a pure invention of the judge, inserted into the judgment to drive a wedge between Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom and to demonize him before the world,” they said.

The groups said that nothing at all related to such an accusation was ever made during the hearings before Judge Omotosho. “There was no accusation of a plot to target US or UK embassies. No prosecution witness mentioned any such conspiracy in their testimony. They said, “No exhibit, document, audio, video, or intelligence report was submitted to substantiate such a claim.”

Since this matter was never brought up in court, the defense was unable to cross-examine any witnesses on it. However, in his opinion, Justice Omotosho wrote this bizarre account of a purported plot to destroy the American and British missions with indifference. This isn’t an error. It is an illusion.

The groups declared their intention to make public the complete certified transcripts of the court’s sessions in order to support their claim. “Those transcripts will clearly demonstrate that no prosecutor, no witness, and no document ever mentioned any threat to US or UK missions; the only people who testified against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu were hired storytellers, and even they did not tell this particular story,” they stated.

They said that “the so-called ‘bomb plot’ only exists in the judgment, not in the evidence.”

Human rights organizations, Nigerian and foreign journalists, diplomats, and the general public were invited to examine the transcripts when they were made public. “We invite Nigerian media, foreign press, diplomats, and human rights organizations to review the record and determine the extent to which a Federal High Court judge was willing to go in order to support an unsupported conviction.”

Given Kanu’s well-known attitude toward the US and the West, the groups contended that the claim was not only untrue but also nonsensical. In Igweocha (Port Harcourt), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu organized the first and only Trump Solidarity Rally in 2017. Thousands of people peacefully marched in favor of the US president at the time.

“He openly identified with the American democratic process and personally attended a Trump campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2020,” they stated.

“A individual who is planning to bomb US or UK missions is not acting in this way. These are the acts of a guy who, whether correctly or incorrectly, views the West and the United States as allies in the fight for justice and self-determination.

“It is hazardous and dishonest for a Nigerian judge to turn this history into a phantom “terror plot.” They emphasized that it conveys to the world that Nigerian courts are prepared to use lies as a weapon against political defendants.

The coalition claims that the entire ruling is seriously undermined by the purported fabrication. “The accused must have a fair opportunity to contest any allegations, the offense must be clearly written in a valid law, and a person can only be convicted on evidence presented in court,” they stated.

According to the coalition, “Justice Omotosho violated Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s right to a fair hearing by importing a serious accusation that was never charged, was never proven, and was never put to the accused; turned himself into a prosecution witness and propagandist; and built his judgment on facts that do not exist in the record.”

“The entire judgment is poisoned once a judge bases a criminal conviction on fabricated, extraneous material,” they continued. It is unconstitutional, immoral, and dangerous from a legal standpoint.

They argued that “this single act of fabrication is sufficient, on its own, to nullify the judgment, justify its reversal on appeal, and trigger serious disciplinary action by the National Judicial Council (NJC).”

The organizations said, “When a judge in a criminal trial descends into the arena of fabrication and lies, the judiciary itself is in trouble,” warning that the ramifications extend beyond Kanu’s specific case.

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is no longer the only man involved. It concerns whether Nigerians can have faith that our courts would make decisions based on facts rather than preconceived notions, that judges will honor the record rather than alter it, and that the bench won’t be utilized as a means of discrediting political rivals, they stated.

“Justice Omotosho’s actions give the worst conceivable impression both at home and abroad. It conveys to the world that Nigerian courts can fabricate “terrorists” on paper while disregarding the real evidence. The coalition protested, “We will not let this go unnoticed.

They outlined their next course of action, stating that they would publish transcripts of the proceedings right away before “they falsify it,” file the necessary appeals contesting the ruling, ask the NJC to look into the matter, and work directly with U.S. and U.K. authorities to expose what they called a false narrative.

“It is a fallacy from the pit of propaganda, not from a court of law, to paint Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as a man who planned to bomb US and UK missions,” they stated.

“It tarnishes the verdict.” The court has a stain from it. And it will continue to be a disgrace on the Nigerian courts until it is categorically rejected.

“With documents, transcripts, and the cold, hard truth, we are determined to expose this fabrication in a way Justice Omotosho never imagined possible,” they said.