The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written to United States President Donald Trump, calling for an independent American-led investigation into what he described as the “killings of Christians and Igbo people” in Nigeria’s South East region.
In a letter dated November 6, 2025, and delivered through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, to the US Embassy in Abuja, Kanu, who remains in the custody of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), urged Trump to follow through on his recent declaration that Washington was “prepared to act militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population.”
According to the letter, Kanu appealed to the US president to “launch a US-led independent inquiry into the situation of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, with full access to relevant evidence and survivor testimonies.”
He wrote, “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.”
Okay News reports that Kanu emphasized the deteriorating security and human rights situation faced by communities in the South East, particularly among Igbo Christians, urging the international community to act before the situation worsens.
“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,” Kanu stated.
The letter also referenced reports by Amnesty International and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings, documenting the deaths of peaceful worshippers in past incidents. Kanu cited the 2016 killings of Christian worshippers in Aba, where Amnesty International reported that over 150 people were killed and their bodies dumped in rivers.
“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,’” Kanu wrote.
He further reminded Trump that despite being discharged and acquitted by Nigeria’s Court of Appeal in October 2022, he remains in custody, describing his detention as a “blatant violation of constitutionally protected double jeopardy safeguards.”
Citing a report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Kanu said his continued imprisonment had been declared “arbitrary, unlawful, and politically motivated.”
Kanu also called for emergency US Congressional hearings on what he termed the “Igbo Christian crisis” and proposed the imposition of Magnitsky Act sanctions on individuals linked to the alleged atrocities.
In addition, he appealed 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.”
“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 wrote.
He concluded by reaffirming his commitment to peace and justice, praying that God grants Trump the wisdom to “deliver His people once again.”
