Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Writes Trump, Urges U.S. Intervention as Nigeria Defies Courts and Escalates Persecution of Christians
Abuja, Nigeria – December 4, 2025
The illegally detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu, in a strong diplomatic appeal, has called for urgent American intervention to halt the escalating persecution of Christians in Nigeria and the unlawful actions of the Nigerian government surrounding his imprisonment.
The letter, dated November 21, 2025, presents a detailed summary of state abuses, systematic violations of court orders, and the worsening climate of religious repression in Eastern Nigeria. It also reaffirms Kanu’s status as a prisoner of conscience and the first Christian genocide whistleblower from Nigeria.
A Comprehensive Case Against Nigeria’s Continued Lawlessness
Kanu recounts the ordeal that began on 20 June 2021, when he was forcibly abducted from Kenya in an extraordinary rendition widely condemned by The Kenyan High Court, which ruled the operation illegal, and The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which declared his arrest and detention “unlawful” and “politically motivated.”
Despite these binding international decisions, the Nigerian government has refused to comply.
Kanu notes that on 13 October 2022, the Nigerian Court of Appeal unequivocally ordered his unconditional release, yet the government ignored the ruling, a stance that has since become a hallmark of Nigeria’s combative posture toward both domestic and international law.
Rather than obeying the judgment, the Nigerian government sentenced Kanu and, on 20 November 2025, subjected him to what is widely described as a “sham trial” under a repealed military-era statute, resulting in a politically motivated life sentence.
Kanu argues that this sentence is designed not just to silence him, but to suppress his warnings about state-sponsored Christian genocide in the country. His letter places this in a wider context of violence, citing massacres, militarization, and the targeting of Indigenous Igbo Christian communities.
Appeal for Direct U.S. Presidential Action
In the letter, Kanu respectfully requests that President Trump:
- Launch an independent judicial inquiry into his unlawful sentencing.
- Apply diplomatic pressure on Nigeria to ensure full compliance with the Court of Appeal’s 2022 ruling that mandates his release.
- Support an emergency congressional hearing on Nigeria’s persecution of Christians and Igbo communities.
Kanu argues that this appeal is necessary to protect the “millions of persecuted Christians in Nigeria who look to America for hope and protection.”
A Call Reinforced by Trump’s Past Actions
The appeal comes against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s previous designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for severe violations of religious freedom, later reversed by the Biden administration but recently revived in congressional resolutions.
Trump had repeatedly vowed to “annihilate terrorists wherever they operate”, but the Nigerian government resisted this assistance, even under circumstances where U.S. intelligence identified high-profile terror collaborators within Nigeria’s political structure.
One such case was the infamous arrest of Kabiru Sokoto, mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing, who was discovered hiding inside the Government House in Borno State during the tenure of Nigeria’s current Vice President, Kashim Shettima, when he was governor.
U.S. analysts at the time viewed this incident as evidence of entrenched official complicity in terror networks, a concern Kanu raises implicitly in his letter.
A Renewed Push for International Accountability
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s message underscores the gravity of Nigeria’s human rights collapse: a government defying court orders, disregarding UN rulings, and overseeing a worsening campaign of violence in Christian-majority regions.
He closes by reminding Trump that Nigeria’s Christians remain “profoundly grateful” for his earlier decision to designate the country as a CPC, one of the few international actions that acknowledged their suffering.
The letter is accompanied by a four-page documentation that includes legal citations, Amnesty International findings, Intersociety report, UN Working Group opinions, and evidence supporting the urgency of his humanitarian appeal.
A Nation Watches as International Pressure Mounts
Kanu’s letter arrives amid renewed global scrutiny on Nigeria’s security failures, judicial misconduct, and religious persecution.
By appealing directly to Trump, arguably the most influential voice in U.S. conservative and religious circles, Kanu is rekindling a diplomatic pressure campaign in the protection of Christians, a diplomatic pressure the Nigerian government has long struggled to contain.
Recall that between 29 and 30 May 2016, IPOB members holding a peaceful rally in support of Donald Trump’s election were brutally attacked at Nkpor. Countless members were killed, many remain imprisoned to this day, and numerous others simply disappeared by Nigerian state security.
As violence persists, and as Nigeria continues to defy its own courts and international law, many now believe the country is approaching a decisive moment, one that may determine whether justice, accountability, and religious freedom can still be restored.
