Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu was found guilty of "terrorism" on Thursday and sentenced to life imprisonment, against the advice of Nigeria's Attorney General who had called for the death penalty, after 10 years of legal saga.

Nnamdi Kanu and his Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) organization, banned by the authorities, are seeking recognition of a separate state for the Igbo ethnic group in southeastern Nigeria. This is a sensitive issue in a country scarred by the Biafran War, a bloody civil conflict (one to two million deaths, primarily from starvation due to a government blockade) from 1967 to 1970, linked to an attempt at secession in this region.

The Nigerian government considers IPOB a "terrorist" organization, accusing it of stoking ethnic tensions by talking about genocide against the Igbos.

"The death penalty is now disapproved of by the international community. Consequently, and in the interest of justice, I sentence the defendant to life imprisonment," said Judge James Omotosho.

"Life is sacred in the eyes of God," the judge continued, quoting the Bible.

The head of IPOB was found guilty on all seven counts against him, ranging from "terrorism" to disseminating "intentionally misleading" messages.

Present in the courtroom, one of Mr. Kanu's former lawyers, Obi Aguocha, had pleaded for "mercy" and "clemency" from the court.

The separatist leader represented himself on Thursday, having decided a few weeks ago to dismiss his lawyers, which had postponed the trial. He flew into a rage during the hearing when his request for bail was denied. "Where is the law?" he shouted repeatedly.

He was escorted outside by security officers and the verdict was delivered in his absence. He has 90 days to appeal.

"Guns and bullets"

Nnamdi Kanu, a 58-year-old Nigerian and British citizen, came to the attention of the Nigerian government in 2015 by calling for the independence of the southeast of the country via the London-based Radio Biafra station, stating: "We need guns and bullets".

IPOB rejects the idea that this is a call to insurrection. Following demonstrations in support of Biafra that same year, the first since the civil war, Mr. Kanu was arrested during a trip to Nigeria.

He evaded bail in 2017 and fled the country after a military raid on his home, before being extradited from Kenya in 2021, in circumstances his lawyers described as an unlawful abduction.

IPOB is also accused of forcing residents to follow "sit-at-home" orders that have paralyzed markets, schools and transport in the southeast, to protest after Mr. Kanu's arrest in 2021. The organization rejects any accusation of violence.

The Nigerian army is also accused of abuses in this region, including extrajudicial killings, by several NGOs and associations.

Another Biafran separatist leader, Simon Ekpa, who holds dual Finnish and Nigerian citizenship, was sentenced in September to six years in prison in Finland for "participation in the activities of a terrorist group" and "public incitement to commit a crime for terrorist purposes".

The former Biafra, an impoverished region in southeastern Nigeria comprising the states of Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia, mainly populated by the Igbo community, was the scene of a civil war between 1967 and 1970.

After the death of more than a million people, mainly from famine, and the failure of a dying rebellion, the "Republic of Biafra" eventually rejoined Nigeria, an ethnic and religious mosaic currently numbering nearly 200 million inhabitants and regularly shaken by intercommunal tensions.