CLAIM: Justice Omotosho To Revisit Kanu’s Case After Pressure From Israel, U.S. And The ICC
On January 7, 2026, an X user @KizyUzoma claimed that Justice James Omotosho is set to revisit the case of detained leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. following pressure from the International Criminal Court, ICC, Israel and the United States of America,. The post which has an image of Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, both dressed in attires and beads from the South Eastern part of Nigeria, and images of Justice Omotosho, and Kanu, was captioned:
“🚨BREAKING NEWS: Justice James Omotosho is set to revisit the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. There is an ongoing plan to re-examine the case due to pressure from Israel and the United States of America. According to reports, the International Criminal Court has mandated Justice James Omotosho to review his ruling on the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. This is a significant development. We await further updates. 👍”.
When this report was published, the post had over 41,700 views and about 880 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks. In the comment section, @AgbobuJosephine said “He knew what he was doing. His name is already dented, and he will never get a judicial position on the international level.” while @MartinsUde9247 wrote “How on earth you judge someone with a law that has been abolished by the country’s law book , Jailed him for life and keep sending delegates after delegates to go beg him to drop what he stands for ? Who does that?”
VERIFICATION
NV-A subjected the image to Google reverse image search and the result shows that the same picture of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Natanyahu, was posted by a Facebook account, Kiu TV on January 2, 2026. The fact-checker conducted a forensic analysis check on the image using Mever Analytics, and the result confirms a forgery probability of 100%, as seen below.
Justice James Kolawole Omotosho, a Federal High Court judge in Abuja, sentenced Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment in November 2025 after finding him guilty on terrorism-related charges. This was widely reported by reputable Nigerian media and international outlets.
There are no verified reports from official court records, Nigerian government announcements, or major news outlets stating that Justice Omotosho will revisit or review his judgment on Kanu’s case due to foreign influence. Stories claiming this appear only on unverified social media posts.
In Nigeria, decisions by a Federal High Court can only be altered or set aside through a proper appeal in a higher court (such as the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court). There is no legal channel for foreign governments to order a Nigerian judge to revisit a domestic criminal judgment. States like the U.S. or Israel can express diplomatic opinions or raise human rights concerns, but they cannot force a Nigerian judge to change or revisit a ruling.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Justice James Omotosho will revisit the Nnamdi Kanu case because of pressure from Israel or the United States is FALSE. Due to the independence of the judiciary, no external country can force a Nigerian judge to change or revisit a ruling and there are no documented reports of such involvement in this case.
