Nigeria’s Global Embarrassment: When Wristwatches and Perfume Become “Terrorist Evidence"

 Nigeria’s Global Embarrassment: When Wristwatches and Perfume Become “Terrorist Evidence" In what can only be described as a historic ...

 Nigeria’s Global Embarrassment: When Wristwatches and Perfume Become “Terrorist Evidence"

In what can only be described as a historic moment of national shame, the Nigerian government today presented its much-anticipated “evidence” against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in a case that has captured international attention for years. However, what unfolded in court was not a triumph of justice it was the collapse of any remaining dignity in Nigeria’s legal and political institutions.

The world expected weighty evidence concrete links to violence, weapons of war, or plots to destabilize the state. Instead, what Nigeria offered was a bizarre and embarrassing display of personal items: wristwatches, a microphone, a DJ mixer (falsely labeled as a transmitter), phone chargers, laptops, a brown shoe, cables, Arabian perfumes purchased for Kanu’s mother and mother-in-law, and mobile phones.

Not a single weapon. No bombs. No grenades. No attack plans. Not even a penknife. Just four boxes of everyday belongings the kind any public speaker or traveler might carry. These were the items used to justify the unlawful abduction, prolonged detention, and inhumane treatment of a British citizen, and worse still, the designation of IPOB a peaceful self-determination movement as a terrorist organization.

This development has not only shocked millions of Nigerians but also deeply embarrassed the country before the eyes of the global community. International observers present during the proceedings were left visibly stunned. Questions now echo across diplomatic and human rights circles: Is this what Nigeria has been hiding behind closed doors all these years? Is this truly the “evidence” that justified extrajudicial rendition and years of solitary confinement?

This episode confirms what IPOB and its supporters have consistently maintained: this is not prosecution; it is persecution. The Nigerian government, faced with the rising voice of Biafran agitation, chose suppression over dialogue, brutality over understanding, and now, absurdity over law.

To present perfume and microphones as evidence of terrorism is not only an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians, but a slap in the face of justice. It sends a chilling message to other activists: owning common electronics or traveling with gifts for your family can now be construed as acts of war depending, of course, on your ethnicity or political stance.

This event also undermines Nigeria’s credibility in the international arena. At a time when nations are confronting real terrorist threats, Nigeria is busy parading wristwatches and shoes as tools of national insecurity. The international community must now reckon with the reality that a man is being held not because he threatened the peace, but because he challenged the status quo peacefully and courageously.

IPOB’s proscription as a terrorist group, based on these laughable items, now appears for what it truly is: a calculated move to silence dissent and criminalize the desire for freedom. But history will remember this day not as the triumph of a nation against terror, but as **the exposure of a system terrified of truth**.

Let the world take note: what Nigeria showcased in court is not evidence, it is an embarrassment . It is the collapse of moral authority and the elevation of injustice to policy. And it must not stand.

Family Writers Press International