ABUJA, Nov 4, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The years-long legal drama of Nigerian separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, set to resume Tuesday, is devolving into an almost certain conviction after he fired his defence lawyers, to the exasperation of the judge.

Kanu, leader of the banned group the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has long advocated for the independence of southeastern Nigeria, alleging the mistreatment of the Igbo ethnic group.

It's a contentious issue in Nigeria, which fought a brutal civil war from 1967 to 1970 over the secession of the self-declared Republic of Biafra.

Kanu's latest move to fire his lawyers and act as his own counsel has thrown his case into disarray, moving judge James Omotosho last week to plead with him to consult legal experts after Kanu declared that, after reviewing his case file, there was "no charge against me".

The prosecution had already laid out its arguments against the polarising leader, on charges ranging from "terrorism" to publishing intentionally misleading broadcasts.

Kanu, a dual Nigerian-British citizen who had long advocated independence via London-based Radio Biafra, drew the attention of the Nigerian government in 2015, when he said "we need guns and we need bullets".

IPOB rejected the notion that it was a literal call for arms. Following mass pro-Biafran protests that same year -- the first since the civil war -- Kanu was arrested while visiting Nigeria.

He skipped bail in 2017 and fled the country after a military raid on his home. He was extradited from Kenya in 2021, in what his lawyers said was an illegal abduction.

The case's potential free speech implications, the alleged abuse by security forces against Kanu in both Kenya and Nigeria, as well as deadly crackdowns on peaceful pro-Biafra protesters over the years, all appear to have faded into the background as the case drags out and low-level violence festers in the southeast.

IPOB has been accused of violently enforcing regular "sit-at-home" orders that shut down markets, travel and schools across the southeast as a form of economic protest after Kanu's re-arrest in 2021.

IPOB has denied enforcing the protests violently, blaming criminals for doing so.

The military is also accused of abuses in the southeast, including extrajudicial killings.