IPOB Holds ‘Trump Solidarity Rally’, Demands Nnamdi Kanu’s Unconditional Release

Thousands of supporters of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) took to the streets in Abia, Anambra, and Ebonyi States on Tuesday in a broadly peaceful demonstration framed as a “Trump Solidarity Rally” where they demanded unconditional and immediate release of their leader Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu was sentenced to life and has been serving his term at Sokoto prison following his conviction on treason-related charges. The group insists that the U. S. President Donald Trump supports their cause and stages rallies to support him.

The group and its supporters accused the government of influencing Kanu’s conviction and have been staging protests where they call for his release.

The rally continued on Tuesday with participants – including youths, women, and elders – marching with placards, banners, and large photographs of Kanu, demanding his immediate and unconditional release and calling for a thorough investigation into past killings of Biafran activists.

The rally coincided with the nine‑year anniversary of a 2017 “Trump Solidarity Rally” in Port Harcourt’s Igweocha district that IPOB said was met with deadly force by security agencies, an incident the group repeatedly references in its narratives of state oppression.

In a statement shared immediately after the protests by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Directorate, the group said it wanted to remind the public and international community of what it called “brutal killings” of unarmed Biafran protesters during the 2017 rally and to protest what it describes as a continuing campaign of intimidation and insecurity in the South‑East.

“The resolve of Biafrans to live as free people in the land of their ancestors remains unbroken,” the statement said, adding that its members came out “in large numbers to peacefully demonstrate in solidarity… and in remembrance of our people who were brutally killed exactly nine years ago.”

The statement also reiterated IPOB’s call for an independent inquiry into long‑standing human‑rights abuses in the region, including those alleged against state forces during past demonstrations, and insisted that ongoing political and security problems would not be resolved without accountability.

At the heart of the rally was the demand for Kanu’s freedom. IPOB supporters carried his images and chanted slogans demanding his release.

“His continued detention remains a major catalyst for tension and instability,” the group’s statement said, urging Nigeria’s security agencies to respect the constitutional right to peaceful assembly.

IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful said, “We continue to affirm that our struggle is peaceful. All we ask is justice, accountability, and the release of our leader. We will not be silenced.”

IPOB further called on the international community to take urgent interest in the deteriorating human‑rights situation in the South‑East and warned that lasting peace cannot be achieved without addressing the grievances of the Biafran people.