The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has written to former United States President Donald Trump, urging him to open an independent investigation into what he described as the killing of Christians and Igbo people in Nigeria’s South East region.
The appeal, dated November 6, 2025, was delivered through his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja. In the letter, Kanu, who remains in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), called on Trump to take action following his recent remarks that the United States was prepared to intervene militarily and suspend aid if Nigeria failed to protect its Christian population.
Kanu requested that Washington lead an inquiry into the condition of what he called “Judeo-Christians” in Eastern Nigeria, granting investigators access to evidence, mass graves, and survivor testimonies. He claimed that Christians in the region faced severe persecution and accused Nigerian authorities of turning a blind eye to violence targeted at them.
The IPOB leader cited reports from international human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the United Nations to support his claims, alleging that numerous peaceful worshippers had been killed in different parts of the region over the years. He described the incidents as massacres rather than clashes, adding that victims included children and church members attacked during prayers.
Kanu also spoke about his personal ordeal, recounting his arrest, detention, and continued imprisonment despite a 2022 Court of Appeal ruling that discharged and acquitted him. He maintained that his continued detention was unlawful and politically motivated, referencing a UN report that described his case as arbitrary.
In his message to Trump, Kanu called for a U.S.-led intervention to prevent what he described as “a second Rwanda” in Africa, urging the United States to hold Nigerian officials accountable through sanctions and congressional hearings. He also sought support for an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination for the Igbo people, which he said was the only peaceful solution to the crisis.
Kanu expressed his faith in peaceful resolution and justice, stating that history would judge world leaders by their response to such crises. He urged Trump to use his influence to bring relief to the people he believes are suffering in silence, stressing that one action could change the course of events in Nigeria’s troubled regions.