ABUJA, Nigeria: A Nigerian court has rejected a bid to dismiss terrorism charges against separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, ruling that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for him to stand trial.

The decision, delivered by Judge James Omotosho, comes more than a year after Nigeria's Supreme Court reinstated terrorism charges against Kanu, leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which campaigns for independence in the country's southeast. In the lower court, Kanu had argued that the government had no case against him.

Kanu, who also holds British citizenship, has faced repeated detentions since his first arrest in 2015 on charges of terrorism and treason. He fled Nigeria after jumping bail in 2017 but was rearrested in 2021 following an operation by Nigerian intelligence agents in another African country. He denies any wrongdoing, while his supporters accuse the government of targeting him to suppress the separatist movement.

IPOB's push for independence echoes the secessionist bid of the Republic of Biafra, whose failed civil war against Nigeria from 1967 to 1970 claimed an estimated one million lives, mainly from the southeast.

In court, Judge Omotosho said, "The defendant ought to enter some explanation," ruling that the defense's no-case submission was overruled and that Kanu must now respond to the charges.

The Nigerian government blames IPOB for deadly violence in the southeast, though the group denies involvement.

The ruling comes weeks after another separatist figure, Simon Ekpa, who gained prominence after Kanu's detention, was sentenced in Finland to six years in prison for terrorism and tax fraud.