Nnamdi Kanu Appeals to Trump, AU, and World Powers Over Continued Detention.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has petitioned international bodies and world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and the African Union (AU), seeking urgent intervention over what he described as his “unlawful detention” by the Nigerian government.
In a petition released to journalists, Kanu also appealed to the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, the European Union, Amnesty International, the Red Cross, the ECOWAS Court, South Africa, Israel, Japan, and other global institutions to intervene.
Kanu, who has been in custody since June 2021, faulted the Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023, judgment which overturned his earlier discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeal. He argued that the ruling ignored the appellate court’s October 2022 decision, which had declared his extraordinary rendition from Kenya illegal and nullified his trial.
He criticized what he described as an “illegal stay of execution” granted by the Court of Appeal on October 28, 2022, alleging that it enabled his continued detention without charges for over a year, in violation of Nigerian and international law.
“This decision constitutes constitutional criminality of the highest order, exhibiting a shocking disregard for the Nigerian Constitution and established criminal law jurisprudence,” Kanu stated.
The IPOB leader further accused the Nigerian judiciary of “reckless lawlessness and political bias,” while also faulting the United Kingdom for what he called “complicity through silence,” despite being a British citizen.
Kanu warned that his continued detention posed a grave threat to his life, describing it as “persecution sustained through judicial lawlessness.” He urged global powers to pressure Nigeria to comply with constitutional provisions, enforce earlier court rulings, and secure his immediate release.
