Several Igbo groups in the United States have appealed to President Donald Trump to take action against top Nigerian judicial figures over the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
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The petition was submitted on August 28, 2025, by Kanu’s international counsel, Bruce Fein, on behalf of the American Veterans of Igbo Descent, Rising Sun Charities Organization, and Ambassadors for Self-Determination. It called on the US government to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act against five Nigerian judges and a former Attorney General from the administration of ex-president Muhammadu Buhari.
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The petitioners accused the officials of playing key roles in Kanu’s abduction, extraordinary rendition, and prolonged detention. They alleged violations of international law, including arbitrary detention, denial of legal representation, restricted medical access, and endorsement of the ex-parte order that banned IPOB without due process.
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According to the petition, these actions breached Kanu’s rights to free speech, association, and a fair trial. The groups argued that he was entitled under international law to demand a referendum on self-determination through peaceful means, and that punishing him for it amounted to suppression of fundamental freedoms.
The petitioners further noted that the US had sanctioned judges in other countries for similar abuses, including Nazi-era judges prosecuted for sham trials and more recent cases, such as a Russian judge sanctioned in 2024 for arbitrary detention of an opposition figure. They urged Trump to apply the same standards to the Nigerian officials accused in Kanu’s case.
The petition also referenced the 2015 military raid on Kanu’s family home in Umuahia, which led to the deaths of several Biafra supporters. It described this as part of a broader pattern of persecution and violence directed at pro-Biafra activists.
The diaspora groups insisted that the officials responsible for these violations should not escape accountability, and that the United States had both the tools and the precedent to act. They urged Trump to impose sanctions as a step toward justice for Kanu and the wider cause of Biafra.
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