Nnamdi Kanu Alerts Trump on Southeast Genocide

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has written an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, calling attention to the alleged genocide against Christians in Nigeria.

Kanu, in his open letter to President Donald Trump, lamented that the killing of Christians has now spread to the Southeast, claiming the lives of many Igbos. He also recounted surviving multiple assassination attempts allegedly orchestrated by the Nigerian government.

Kanu, in his letter, extended warm greetings to Donald Trump, invoking their shared Judeo-Christian faith and the values both men uphold. He identified himself as a practicing Jew and a believer in the Judeo-Christian heritage that helped shape Western civilization, recalling with pride his attendance at Trump’s campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, in January 2020.

He went on to commend Trump’s recent declaration on October 31, 2025, where the former U.S. president announced that the United States was “prepared to act” militarily and cut aid if Nigeria fails to protect its Christian population. Kanu said the statement has ignited hope in the hearts of millions of believers who have long felt abandoned, stressing that Trump had spoken a profound truth — Christians in Nigeria are facing an existential threat.

Kanu told the US President that a concealed genocide is unfolding against Judeo-Christians in Southeastern Nigeria, stating that the violence has spread beyond the North and now threatens the Igbo heartland. He identified himself as Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)—a peaceful, non-violent civil rights movement anchored in Judeo-Christian values.

He recounted surviving four assassination attempts by the Nigerian government since 2015 and detailed his abduction from Kenya on June 20, 2021, through an illegal extraordinary rendition that violated both Kenyan and international law—a breach confirmed by a Kenyan High Court ruling.

Despite the judgment, Kanu said he was unlawfully taken to Nigeria and held in solitary confinement in Abuja, without any valid charge, solely for defending his people’s right to life, faith, and self-determination.

Kanu alleged that the same extremist groups condemned in Northern Nigeria—Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani militias—are now operating in the South-East and Igbo-speaking areas of Benue, Kogi, and Delta with the backing of the state. According to him, unlike in the North where these groups act independently, in the South, the Nigerian military itself has become the chief perpetrator, protected by a deceptive narrative that paints the victims as aggressors.

He further accused the Nigerian government of weaponizing insecurity to tarnish the image of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

“Since my illegal rendition,” Kanu stated, “the government has declared IPOB a terrorist organization without a shred of evidence—something even the U.S. State Department confirmed in 2021. It has sponsored attacks by so-called ‘unknown gunmen’ through state-backed militias and then blamed IPOB, while over 2,000 Igbo youths have been slaughtered under the guise of counter-terrorism operations between 2021 and 2025, according to Intersociety reports. This is Rwanda’s playbook—create chaos, blame the victims, and use it to justify extermination.”