The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written to U.S. President Donald Trump, asking him to launch an independent inquiry into what he called “state-sponsored genocidal killings” of Christians and Igbo people in Nigeria’s South-East region.
In the letter dated November 6, 2025, and delivered through the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Kanu praised Trump’s recent declaration that the United States was “prepared to act militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population.”
He appealed for a “U.S.-led independent inquiry into state-sponsored massacres of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, with full access to mass graves, military logs, and survivor testimonies.”
Citing Massacres and Human Rights Reports
Kanu referenced several incidents he said amounted to a “hidden genocide” — including the 2016 Nkpor and Aba killings, the 2017 Operation Python Dance raid on his home, and the 2020 Obigbo incident.
He quoted findings from Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, claiming that “at least 150 peaceful Christian worshippers were killed, bodies dumped in rivers.”
“In Aba, 22 were killed on-site, and 13 bodies exhumed from a borrow pit. Children were executed for singing ‘Sweet Jesus,’” Kanu wrote, alleging the attacks were carried out under then–Army Chief Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.
He accused former President Muhammadu Buhari of granting Buratai diplomatic immunity as Ambassador to Benin Republic “to evade ICC prosecution.”
Kanu Recounts Ordeal, Calls for Sanctions
Kanu recounted four alleged assassination attempts and said he was “forcibly abducted from Kenya in an extraordinary rendition operation” on June 20, 2021, which a Kenyan High Court later ruled illegal.
He reminded Trump that Nigeria’s Court of Appeal had discharged and acquitted him in October 2022, yet “the government defied its own judiciary, refusing to release me as ordered.”
The IPOB leader cited the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which described his imprisonment as “arbitrary, unlawful, and politically motivated.”
Kanu urged the U.S. to impose Magnitsky Act sanctions on top Nigerian officials, including Buratai and former DSS Director-General Yusuf Bichi.
He also called for “emergency congressional hearings on the Igbo Christian genocide” and support for “an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination.”
“You have the power to stop a second Rwanda in Africa. One tweet, one sanction, one inquiry could save millions,” he wrote.
Signing off as “Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu, Leader, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Prisoner of Conscience – DSS Custody, Abuja,” Kanu reaffirmed his commitment to non-violence and faith: “We seek only justice, truth, and freedom, even from a prison cell.”
Kanu’s appeal comes just days after Trump threatened military action against Nigeria, warning of “vicious and sweet” strikes if the government fails to protect Christians.
President Bola Tinubu, in turn, rejected the U.S. designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” vowing to “defeat terrorism and engage world leaders diplomatically.”
Kanu’s letter could now sharpen international spotlight on Nigeria’s geopolitical contradictions and human rights record and fuel deeper interrogation over the country’s handling of separatist movements and religious violence.
Could Washington’s renewed pressure finally open the door to accountability, or will it entrench suspicion between Abuja and its foreign partners?
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