Nnamdi Kanu Writes Trump, Seeks Biafra Referendum

Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written to President Donald Trump, appealing for an internationally supervised referendum on Biafra and a U.S.-led investigation into alleged killings of Christians in Nigeria’s southeast.

In the letter dated November 6, 2025, and delivered through the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Kanu said Christians in Nigeria were facing “an existential threat.”

The proscribed IPOB leader accused the Nigerian military of carrying out coordinated attacks against Judeo-Christian communities in the southeast under the guise of counter-terrorism.

Kanu, who described himself as a “peaceful, non-violent civil rights advocate rooted in Judeo-Christian values,” recalled attending one of Trump’s campaign rallies in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2020.

He commended Trump’s recent declaration that the United States was “prepared to act” militarily and suspend aid to Nigeria if the persecution of Christians continued, saying the statement “ignited hope in the hearts of millions who have been abandoned by the world.”

“You have seen the truth: Christians in Nigeria face an existential threat. This genocide is not confined to the North—it has metastasised into the Igbo heartland, where Judeo-Christians are being systematically exterminated under the guise of counter-terrorism,” Kanu wrote.

The IPOB leader said his prolonged detention was part of an effort to silence “a Judeo-Christian voice” calling attention to the plight of his people.

He recounted how he was abducted in Kenya in 2021 and forcibly returned to Nigeria in what he called an “extraordinary rendition,” despite a Kenyan High Court ruling that condemned the act as illegal.

Kanu noted that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had on October 13, 2022, discharged and acquitted him, ruling that his rendition was unconstitutional and ordering his release.

He also cited a 2022 opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which described his imprisonment as “arbitrary, unlawful, and politically motivated.”

He accused the Nigerian military of carrying out massacres in several parts of the southeast, including the 2016 Nkpor and Aba killings, the 2017 “Operation Python Dance” in Afaraukwu, and the 2020 Obigbo incident.

He said reports by Amnesty International, the United Nations, and local human rights groups documented these killings, which he alleged were aimed at Christian communities sympathetic to the Biafra movement.

According to Kanu, hundreds of unarmed civilians were gunned down at various peaceful gatherings, including the January 2017 Trump solidarity rally in Port Harcourt, which he said was met with lethal force by soldiers.

“They came to celebrate your inauguration; they were met with bullets,” Kanu told Trump.

Kanu accused the Nigerian government of branding IPOB a terrorist organisation despite what he called “zero evidence of violence,” claiming that state-backed militias had been used to carry out attacks later blamed on IPOB.

He appealed to President Trump to use his influence to initiate an international inquiry into the killings, push for congressional hearings on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, and impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for alleged human rights violations.

Kanu also urged the U.S. to support an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination for the Igbo people, describing it as “the only peaceful path to ending this cycle 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,” he concluded.

Kanu remains in solitary detention at the Department of State Services facility in Abuja, more than four years after his abduction and despite multiple court orders for his release.

On Wednesday, Justice James Omotosho gave him one final opportunity to open his defence in his ongoing terrorism trial or risk losing the right to do so.

The judge issued the directive while ruling on an application by the prosecuting counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who asked the court to foreclose Kanu’s defence after he repeatedly refused to enter one despite the prosecution having closed its case.

The judge noted that it was his duty to ensure that the defendant is given sufficient time and opportunity to present his case, but warned that the privilege would not be extended indefinitely.

“We had adjourned till today for the defendant to put in his defence or be deemed closed. But I am bound to give him another opportunity,” Justice Omotosho said.

“If he does not, I will deem him closed. I know that he is an economist and not a lawyer, so I will give this last opportunity to the defendant to put in his defence, failing which he would be deemed closed,” the judge added.

The court thereafter adjourned the matter till November 7 for Kanu to either open his defence or forfeit the right to do so.

Awomolo had earlier reminded the court that Kanu had already spent five out of the six days allocated to him for his defence without making any effort to begin.

He urged the court to take note of Kanu’s continued refusal, arguing that the defendant had openly declared that he would not defend himself because he believes there is no valid charge against him.

Kanu, who represented himself, maintained his position from the dock, insisting that there was no legitimate charge before the court to warrant his being called to enter a defence.