- Detained IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has written to US President Donald Trump alleging ongoing genocide against Christians in Nigeria.
- In a four-page letter sent after being detained by the National Security Agency, Kanu praised Trump’s warning that the United States was “ready to take action” if Christians remained unprotected, saying it gave hope to millions.
- He recounted his experience of “extraordinary rendition” from Kenya in 2021 and his continued illegal detention despite court orders. The letter details alleged military massacres in eastern Nigeria, including Nkpol, Aba and Obibo, accusing the Nigerian military of systematic attacks on Igbo Christians.
- Kanu urges Trump to launch US-led investigation, impose sanctions and support Igbo referendum
Detained Biafran leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has written to US President Donald J. Trump urging him to take action against what he calls “the ongoing genocide against Christians in Nigeria.”
Kanu, a leader of the Indigenous Peoples Organization of Biafra (IPOB), sent the four-page letter while he was detained at the State Security Service (SSS) headquarters in Abuja. The letter, dated November 6, 2025, was written to Trump through the US Embassy in Abuja.
Kanu praised Trump’s warning that the United States was “ready to take action” if Nigeria failed to protect Christians, saying the statement gave hope to millions who feel abandoned. “You have seen the truth: Christians in Nigeria face an existential threat,” Kanu wrote. “This genocide has spread from the north into the Igbo heartland, where Jewish Christians are being systematically exterminated under the guise of counterterrorism.”
He recounted his experience of being kidnapped in Kenya in June 2021, calling it an “extraordinary rendition” that violated international law. “The Nigerian government has contempt for its own judiciary,” he said. “I was never released – I just continued to be unlawfully imprisoned.” Kanu also cited a United Nations working group report that called his detention “arbitrary, illegal and politically motivated.”
The letter lists alleged military-led killings of Igbo Christians, including the Nkepo Heroes of Biafra Day (2016), which killed more than 150 people, the Aba school massacre (2016), where students were shot while praying, Operation Anaconda Dance, which killed more than 150 people during an attack on their homes (2017), and the Obibo massacre, which killed civilians and children (2020). 2017) and Trump Unity Rally (2017), a supporter was allegedly shot and killed at a pro-Trump event.
He accused the Nigerian military of being the “primary perpetrator” of the attacks and covering them up with a “false victim-blaming narrative.”
Kanu urged Trump to launch a U.S.-led investigation, impose Magnitsky sanctions on officials involved and support an internationally monitored referendum for the Igbo people. “History will judge us by what we did when genocide struck,” he wrote. “One tweet, one sanction, one investigation can save millions of lives.”
Kanu reiterated his stance on non-violence, declaring: “Even in a prison cell, we reject all forms of violence. We seek only justice, truth and freedom.” He concluded by warning that urgent action was needed to prevent “a second Rwanda in Africa.”
