Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has written a letter to US President Donald Trump, calling for an independent investigation into what he described as the “killings of Christians and Igbo people” in Nigeria’s South East.
In the letter dated November 6, 2025, and delivered to the US Embassy in Abuja through his lawyer, Barr. Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu urged Trump to act on his recent statement that America was prepared to “cut aid and act militarily if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population.”
He wrote: “You have seen the truth: Christians in Nigeria face an existential threat. This challenge affects the Igbo heartland, where Judeo-Christians continue to suffer hardship.”
According to the letter, Kanu asked Trump to launch a US-led inquiry into the plight of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, with access to survivor testimonies, military logs, and alleged mass graves.
He cited past reports by Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur, alleging the killing of worshippers during prayer sessions and describing them as “massacres, not clashes.”
“Amnesty International reported at least 150 peaceful worshippers killed and bodies dumped in rivers. Children were executed for singing ‘Sweet Jesus,’” he said.
Kanu, who remains in Department of State Services (DSS) custody despite a 2022 Court of Appeal acquittal, described his continued detention as “unlawful and politically motivated.”
He also urged the US Congress to hold emergency hearings on what he called the “Igbo Christian crisis” and to consider Magnitsky Act sanctions against certain Nigerian officials.
“History will judge us by what we do when genocide knocks. One tweet, one sanction, one inquiry could save millions,” he added.
The IPOB leader further 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.”
