Detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has addressed an open letter to US President Donald Trump, claiming that the alleged “Christian genocide” in Nigeria has spread to the South-East region, directly targeting the Igbo people.
Kanu’s letter follows President Trump’s recent statement on October 31, 2025 that the United States was “prepared to act” militarily and cut aid if Nigeria does not adequately protect its Christian population, a move that saw Nigeria redesignated as a Country of Particular Concern (CCP).
In the letter, Mazi Kanu, who identifies himself as a practicing Jew and leader of a self-determination movement, claims that the threat is no longer limited to northern Nigeria but has “metastasized to the Igbo heartland,” where, he says, Judeo-Christians are being “systematically exterminated under the guise of counterterrorism.”
He alleged that the same extremist forces condemned in the North – such as Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militias – are operating with “state complicity” in the Southeast, adding that the Nigerian military itself is the “main perpetrator” in the region, protected by a “false narrative that blames the victims.”
READ ALSO: Bishop Anagbe: Meet the Nigerian priest who advocated for the appointment of Nigeria’s CCP
Kanu provided data, referring to a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) which he said documented the killing of more than 2,000 Igbo youth in “counter-terrorism” operations between 2021 and 2025.
Kanu further accused the Nigerian government of using insecurity as a weapon to demonize his organization.
He stated that since his “illegal rendition” from Kenya in June 2021, the government has: declared IPOB a “terrorist organization,” despite, he said, no evidence of violence and contradicting the US State Department’s findings in 2021; and has orchestrated attacks by “unknown gunmen” using state-backed militias, then wrongly attributing the violence to IPOB.
The IPOB leader drew a parallel to the Rwandan genocide and stated that the method is a “playbook: create chaos, blame the victim, justify extermination.”
Kanu detailed his own experiences with the Nigerian state, stating that he survived four documented assassination attempts since 2015 and recounted his forced abduction (extraordinary rendition) in Kenya, an act that a Kenyan High Court later condemned as a violation of international law.
Kanu stated that he remains detained in solitary confinement in Abuja without valid charges, claiming that his “only crime” is defending the right of his people to life and self-determination.
The letter serves as a direct call to President Trump to use the influence of the CCP designation and the threat of military and economic actions to intervene in the escalating conflict in the southeastern region of Nigeria.
READ ALSO TOP STORIES OF Newslodge