Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written to United States President Donald Trump, urging him to initiate an independent investigation into what he described as the “killings of Christians and Igbo people” in the South East region of the country.
In a letter dated November 6, 2025, and transmitted through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Kanu, who is in custody at the Department of State Services, appealed to Trump to act on his recent statement that the United States was “prepared to act militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population.”
According to the letter seen by our correspondent, Kanu called on Trump to “launch a U.S.-led independent inquiry into the situation of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, with full access to relevant evidence and survivor testimonies.”
The letter reads, “I extend warm greetings to you in the name of the Judeo-Christian faith and values we both hold dear. Your bold declaration on October 31, 2025, that the United States is ‘prepared to act’ militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population ignited hope in the hearts of millions who have been abandoned by the world.”
Kanu told the US president that Christians in Nigeria were facing difficult circumstances and urged that international attention be given to the issue.
“You have seen the truth: Christians in Nigeria face an existential threat. I write to you now to reveal that this challenge affects the Igbo heartland, where Judeo-Christians continue to suffer hardship.”
The IPOB leader cited historical incidents and reports by international human rights groups as part of his appeal for external review.
It continued, “Amnesty International (2016) reported at least 150 peaceful Christian worshippers killed, bodies dumped in rivers. UN Special Rapporteur Agnès Callamard confirmed that at least 60 were killed and over 70 were injured in St. Edmund’s Catholic Church during prayers.
“This was not a clash. It was a massacre of worshippers commemorating their fallen. In Aba, 22 were killed on-site, and 13 bodies were exhumed from a borrow pit. Children were executed for singing ‘Sweet Jesus.’”
The IPOB leader also spoke about his personal experiences since 2015, including his time in detention and his ongoing legal challenges.
Kanu reminded Trump that the Nigerian Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted him in October 2022, but that he remains in custody.
“I was never released, so there was no re-arrest, only continued unlawful imprisonment in blatant violation of constitutionally protected double jeopardy safeguards,” Kanu stated.
Citing a report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Kanu said his imprisonment had been described as “arbitrary, unlawful, and politically motivated,” and called it “a state capture of the rule of law to silence a Judeo-Christian voice.”
He renewed his call for “a U.S.-led independent inquiry into the situation of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, with full access to mass graves, military logs, and survivor testimonies.”
Kanu also appealed for emergency Congressional hearings on what he called the “Igbo Christian crisis” and urged the U.S. to consider Magnitsky Act sanctions on certain individuals.
In addition, Kanu requested U.S. support for “an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination for the Igbo people,” describing it as “the only peaceful path to ending this circle of violence.”
The IPOB leader reaffirmed his commitment to peace and justice in the country.
He added, “Mr President, history will judge us by what we do when genocide knocks. You have the power to stop a second Rwanda in Africa. One tweet, one sanction, one inquiry could save millions.
“We seek only justice, truth, and freedom, even from a prison cell. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob grant you wisdom and courage to deliver His people once again.”
Credit: The Punch