“You Have the Power to Stop a Second Rwanda”: Nnamdi Kanu Writes Trump, Calls for U.S. Inquiry Into Alleged Genocide in South-East Nigeria

The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has written a powerful letter to former United States President Donald Trump, calling for an independent U.S.-led investigation into what he described as “state-sponsored genocidal killings” of Christians and Igbo people in Nigeria’s South-East region. The letter, dated November 6, 2025, and reportedly delivered through the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, marks one of Kanu’s most direct international appeals since his detention at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters.

In the strongly worded letter obtained by Sahara Reporters, Kanu urged Trump to act on his recent declaration that the United States was “prepared to act militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population.” The pro-Biafra leader said Trump’s statement had rekindled hope for millions of persecuted Christians in Nigeria who, according to him, have long been abandoned by the international community.

“I extend warm greetings to you in the name of the Judeo-Christian faith and values we both hold dear,” Kanu wrote. “Your bold declaration on October 31, 2025, that the United States is prepared to act militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population 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.”

Kanu, who has spent years in detention following his controversial extraordinary rendition from Kenya in 2021, alleged that the genocide against Christians was no longer confined to northern Nigeria but had spread into the Igbo heartland. According to him, the South-East has become a silent killing field masked under the banner of counter-terrorism operations. “This genocide is not confined to the North,” Kanu wrote. “It has metastasized into the Igbo heartland, where Judeo-Christians are being systematically exterminated under the guise of counter-terrorism.”

The IPOB leader cited numerous incidents as evidence of what he called “a hidden genocide,” listing the 2016 Nkpor and Aba massacres, the 2017 Operation Python Dance raid on his family home in Afaraukwu, and the 2020 Obigbo killings. Drawing from documented reports by human rights organizations, Kanu referenced findings by Amnesty International, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, and the Nigerian human rights group Intersociety.

“Amnesty International (2016) reported at least 150 peaceful Christian worshippers killed, bodies dumped in rivers,” he wrote. “UN Special Rapporteur Agnès Callamard confirmed that at least 60 were killed and over 70 injured in St. Edmund’s Catholic Church during prayers. This was not a clash. It was a massacre of worshippers commemorating their fallen.” He further recounted that in Aba, 22 people were killed on-site and 13 bodies exhumed from a borrow pit, adding chillingly that “children were executed for singing ‘Sweet Jesus.’”

Kanu accused the Nigerian military, under the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, of being behind the atrocities. “In 2021, President Buhari appointed him Ambassador to Benin, granting him diplomatic immunity to evade ICC prosecution,” he alleged, describing the appointment as “state-sponsored impunity on a genocidal scale.”

The letter also chronicled Kanu’s personal ordeal, painting a grim picture of his continued detention and the alleged injustices he has faced. “I have survived four assassination attempts and was forcibly abducted from Kenya in an extraordinary rendition operation on June 20, 2021,” he wrote, recalling that a Kenyan High Court later ruled the operation illegal. Kanu reminded Trump that the Nigerian Court of Appeal had discharged and acquitted him in October 2022, but the government had refused to obey its own court order. “I was never released, so there was no re-arrest, only continued unlawful imprisonment in blatant violation of constitutionally protected double jeopardy safeguards,” he stated.

He cited the findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which described his detention as “arbitrary, unlawful, and politically motivated.” To Kanu, his case represents “a state capture of the rule of law to silence a Judeo-Christian voice.”

Appealing to Trump’s religious and moral sensibilities, Kanu urged him to initiate “a U.S.-led independent inquiry into state-sponsored massacres of Judeo-Christians in Eastern Nigeria, with full access to mass graves, military logs, and survivor testimonies.” He also called for emergency congressional hearings in the U.S. on what he termed “the Igbo Christian genocide” and demanded that Magnitsky Act sanctions be imposed on top Nigerian officials, including former Army Chief Tukur Buratai and former DSS Director-General Yusuf Bichi.

Beyond calling for sanctions, Kanu pushed for what he described as “the only peaceful path to ending this circle of violence” — an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination for the Igbo people. According to him, self-determination remains the only viable solution to decades of marginalization, persecution, and violence.

“Mr. President,” he wrote with urgency, “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.”

Kanu signed the letter as “Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu, Leader, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Prisoner of Conscience – DSS Custody, Abuja,” reaffirming his commitment to non-violence and faith. “We seek only justice, truth, and freedom, even from a prison cell. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob grant you wisdom and courage to deliver His people once again.”

The letter has already begun generating discussions online, with some Nigerians viewing it as a bold and desperate cry for international attention to the plight of the South-East. Others, however, see it as another attempt by the IPOB leader to internationalize Nigeria’s domestic challenges and invite foreign interference.

Still, Kanu’s latest move comes at a politically sensitive time. The United States under Trump’s renewed rhetoric on Christian persecution in Africa has sparked diplomatic ripples, with Nigerian officials warning against “external meddling” in the nation’s internal affairs. Yet, many Christian groups across Nigeria and the diaspora have echoed Kanu’s concerns, citing repeated attacks on churches, abductions, and government silence as evidence of worsening religious persecution.

While there has been no official response from the U.S. Embassy or the White House to Kanu’s letter, analysts believe his appeal could further intensify international scrutiny of Nigeria’s human rights record. The mention of “mass graves” and “military logs” is expected to renew calls for transparency and justice from international observers and advocacy groups.

As Nnamdi Kanu remains in solitary confinement, his words continue to resonate beyond the walls of the DSS facility — a reminder of the deep divisions and unhealed wounds within Nigeria’s federation. Whether his letter will prompt a response from Trump or the United States government remains to be seen, but the message is clear: the call for accountability, justice, and the protection of life in Nigeria’s South-East is growing louder by the day.

In his closing words, Kanu evoked both faith and defiance: “Even from this prison cell, I will continue to speak truth to power. For if the world stays silent while we are slaughtered, then the world has learned nothing from history.”