The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written a passionate letter to United States President Donald Trump, urging him to launch an independent investigation into what he described as “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—who remains in solitary detention at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters)—appealed to President Trump to act on his recent declaration that the U.S. was “prepared to act militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population.”
According to excerpts of the letter obtained by SaharaReporters, Kanu urged Trump to “launch 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.”
He praised Trump’s October 31 declaration as a source of renewed hope, writing:
“Your bold declaration 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 claimed that the “genocide” was not limited to Northern Nigeria but had “metastasized into the Igbo heartland,”citing alleged massacres in Nkpor (2016), Aba (2016), the 2017 ‘Operation Python Dance’ raid on his Afaraukwu home, and the 2020 Obigbo killings.
He referenced reports by Amnesty International, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, and Intersociety, which he said documented mass killings of peaceful Christian worshippers.
Kanu further accused the Nigerian military, under the command of then-Chief of Army Staff Lt-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, of perpetrating these attacks, alleging that Buratai’s later appointment as Ambassador to Benin Republic was intended to shield him from prosecution.
Recounting his own ordeal, Kanu said he had survived four assassination attempts and was “forcibly abducted from Kenya” in 2021, describing the operation as an illegal extraordinary rendition, later condemned by a Kenyan High Court.
He reminded Trump that the Nigerian Court of Appeal had discharged and acquitted him in October 2022, but that the government “defied its own judiciary” by refusing to release him. He cited a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention report describing his imprisonment as “unlawful and politically motivated.”
Kanu called on Trump to support:
A U.S.-led investigation into the alleged killings of Judeo-Christians;
Emergency Congressional hearings on what he termed “the Igbo Christian genocide”; and
Magnitsky Act sanctions against top Nigerian officials, including Buratai and former DSS Director-General Yusuf Bichi.
He also appealed for an internationally supervised referendum on Igbo self-determination, describing it as “the only peaceful path to ending this circle of violence.”
Kanu concluded his letter with a plea:
“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.”
He signed the letter as “Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu, Leader, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Prisoner of Conscience – DSS Custody, Abuja,” affirming his commitment to peace and justice:
“We seek only justice, truth, and freedom, even from a prison cell.”