Concerns over the safety of detained separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu have resurfaced following recent United States military airstrikes on terrorist enclaves in Sokoto State, with his lawyer warning that the development reinforces long-standing fears about insecurity in the area.
In a statement shared on X on November 26, 2025, Kanu’s lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, argued that the US operation underscored the extent to which Sokoto has become a hotspot for terrorist activity, insisting that the region was never suitable for the custody of his client.
He maintained that the latest security incident had elevated the urgency of relocating Kanu to a safer environment.
According to Ejimakor, the airstrikes, carried out as part of broader counter-terrorism efforts involving Nigerian and US security cooperation, validated claims that terrorist networks are deeply entrenched in parts of Sokoto and neighbouring areas in Northern Nigeria.
He said this reality posed direct risks to inmates and security personnel alike within the state’s correctional facilities.
“The US military strike against terrorists in Sokoto has finally confirmed that Sokoto is riddled with terrorists and thus was never a safe place of custody for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” Ejimakor said.
“It is now more urgent that he be transferred outside the terrorist belt in Northern Nigeria.”
Furthermore, the lawyer contended that continued detention in a conflict-prone zone could amount to an avoidable endangerment of Kanu’s life, stressing that prison authorities have a duty of care to guarantee the safety of all inmates, irrespective of the offences for which they were convicted.
AFRIPOST reports that Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is currently incarcerated at a correctional facility in Sokoto following a terrorism conviction, with his legal team consistently disputing both the venue of his detention and the conditions surrounding it.
His lawyers have repeatedly called on the Federal Government to move him to a facility outside Northern Nigeria, citing persistent insecurity across the region.