Ahead of his scheduled appearance before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written to the US President Donald Trump, alleging what he described as a “hidden genocide” against Judeo-Christians in Nigeria’s South-East region.
In the four-page letter personally signed by Kanu and released through his counsel, Alloy Ejimakor, Kanu claimed his ongoing terrorism-related trial was politically motivated, urging the United States to support a supervised referendum on self-determination for the Igbo people.
Describing himself as a “Prisoner of Conscience” and a “four-time survivor of state assassination attempts,” Kanu recounted how he was “forcibly abducted from Kenya” in what he called an “extraordinary rendition operation” that violated international law.
According to him, extremist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani militias, which Trump had previously condemned, allegedly continued to operate with “state complicity” in the South-East and other Igbo-speaking areas of Benue, Kogi, and Delta States.
“But here, the Nigerian military itself is the primary perpetrator, shielded by a false narrative that blames victims,” Kanu alleged.
He accused former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), of orchestrating killings under Operation Python Dance, and alleged that his ambassadorial appointment had protected him from international prosecution.
“This is state-sponsored impunity on a genocidal scale,” he insisted.
Kanu praised Trump’s October 31, 2025 declaration that the US was prepared to act militarily and cut aid to Nigeria if Christians continued to face persecution, saying the statement had “ignited hope in the hearts of millions abandoned by the world.”
“You have seen the truth: Christians in Nigeria face an existential threat. I write to you now to reveal that this genocide is not confined to the North, it has metastasized into the Igbo heartland, where Judeo-Christians are being systematically exterminated under the guise of counter-terrorism,” Kanu wrote.
He reiterated his claim that the Nigerian government has ignored both local and international court rulings that ordered his release.
Kanu cited the October 13, 2022 Court of Appeal ruling (CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022), which discharged and acquitted him on the grounds that his rendition from Kenya was illegal and unconstitutional. He also referenced the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which described his continued detention as “arbitrary, unlawful, and politically motivated.”
“This is not justice. This is state capture of the rule of law to silence a Judeo-Christian voice,” he wrote.
In his recommendations to Trump, Kanu urged the U.S to launch an independent inquiry into alleged state-sponsored massacres of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, convene emergency Congressional hearings on what he termed the “Igbo Christian genocide; impose Magnitsky Act sanctions on key Nigerian officials, including Buratai and a former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi.
Also, Kanu pleaded a support for an internationally-supervised referendum on self-determination for the Igbo people.
“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,” Kanu pleaded.
He concluded his letter with a reaffirmation of the outlawed IPOB’s commitment to peace and non-violence, saying,
“We seek only justice, truth, and freedom. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—who delivered Israel from Pharaoh—grant you wisdom and courage to deliver His people once again,” Kanu prayed.
