Nnamdi Kanu: Nigeria Accused of Double Standards

The family of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a separatist leader currently in detention, accuses the Nigerian judicial system of applying double standards for stalling his appeals for freedom for months.

On October 13, 2022, the Court of Appeal ordered Mazi Kanu’s release and quashed the criminal charges against him. Within the following fourteen days, the government obtained a stay of execution order from a different court panel, thereby maintaining his detention even though the criminal proceedings had concluded. To date, the appeal filed by Mazi Kanu with the Supreme Court has been pending for over nine months without any response from the government. 

Similarly, his appeal against November 20, 2025 life sentence has yet to be scheduled for a hearing, even though the government missed the deadline to file its submissions.

The family describes the 2022 stay of execution order as an unconstitutional hybrid of civil and criminal proceedings, a situation unprecedented in Nigeria.

Prince Emmanuel Kanu disclosed that the family would officially petition the US Congress, the Israeli Knesset, and the International Bar Association (IBA). This move follows a July 2026 call by the US Congress urging Nigeria to release the separatist leader or grant him a new, fair trial, as well as a 2022 opinion from a UN working group declaring his detention arbitrary.

On November 2025, Mazi Kanu was convicted on seven terrorism-related charges in Nigeria for advocating for the independence of the State of Biafra. He is asking for his appeal and other related proceedings to be placed on the court docket and heard without tactical delay. 

His family, in a statement received by Creek Metro on Tuesday said silence and delays cannot take the place of a judicial decision. “We demand that the same standard be applied now. There cannot be emergency justice when the State seeks detention and slow justice when the citizen seeks liberty”.