Diaspora Igbo Groups Petition Trump , Urge Sanctions against 5 Nigerian Jurists for Alleged Role in Kanu’s Protracted Prosecution

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia


Three non-profit organisations of Igbos in the diaspora have jointly petitioned the President United States of America, Donald Trump, seeking his intervention in the protracted persecution of Biafra self-determination leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The groups – American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Rising Sun Charities Organisation, and Ambassadors for Self-Determination have been deeply involved in campaigns to make the Nigerian authorities end Kanu’s unending detention.

In their petition dated August 28, 2025, made available to journalists yesterday, the three non-profit groups were described as “substantially dedicated to monitoring gross violations of internationally recognised human rights, especially in Nigeria.”

They urged Trump to impose US sanctions on five identified Nigerian jurists for their alleged roles in perpetrating Kanu’s lingering ordeal, which started with the gross violations of his internationally recognised human rights.

The jurists recommended for sanctions  include Justice Binta Murtala Nyako, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, Justice Hamma Akawa Barka, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola.

In the petition filed on their behalf by the Law Offices of Bruce Fein, the groups stated that the sanctions being sought against the listed Nigerian jurists was in “pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102, and E.O. 13818”.

“The three non-profit organisations urge Magnitsky sanctions against a quintet of Nigerian judges implicated in the persecution of Biafran leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for exercising his rights to free speech and association and a fair trial,” the petition reads.

They also seek Magnitsky sanctions against Nigeria’s former Attorney General of the Federation(AGF), Abubakar Malami, who was the chief law officer under the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari during which Kanu’s rights and international law were violated.

Global Magnitsky sanctions are targeted financial and travel sanctions that the US and other countries can impose on individuals and entities responsible for gross human rights violations or significant corruption.

The rights violations listed against the affected jurists include “ongoing arbitrary detention as determined by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, denial of the right to fair-trial rights, and judicial endorsement of Mr. Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, and extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria.”

They argued that “judges enjoy no immunity for gross violations of internationally recognised human rights”, citing the prosecution of Nazi by the United States “for presiding over sham trials where the outcome had been predetermined by Nazi authorities”.

They also referenced the sanctioning of a Russian judge Olesya by the United States on December 31, 2024, “for participating in the arbitrary detention of Moscow city counsellor and human rights defender, Alexi Gorniov, for voicing opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine”.

According to the petitioners, the jurists that presided over Kanu’s matter at the trial court and the appellate level did not discharge their duties with fairness and regard to the rights of the IPOB  leader.

They alleged that the justices in their judgements endorsed arbitrary detention, denial of right to counsel and access to necessary medical care, endorsement of ex-parte proscription of IPOB without due process.

The Supreme Court verdict December 15, 2023, which ambiguously acknowledged that “the Nigerian government’s extraordinary rendition of Mr. Kanu was criminal” but still gave “affirmation of arbitrary detention to enable Nigerian government to profit from its own crimes against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”

On Malami’s alleged sins, the groups specifically accused the former AGF of “orchestrating Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition and arbitrary detention without trial.”

The petitioners vehemently condemned Kanu’s protracted persecution, and the military invasion of his Umuahia family home on September 14, 2017 during which scores of Biafran activists were killed.

They argued that Kanu did no wrong in asking for Biafra self-determination, noting that under international laws, demanding for referendum through peaceful means does not attract persecution.

“Nigeria’s protracted persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for peaceful advocacy of a self-determination referendum in Biafra commenced as early as 2015,” the petitioners said, adding that there’s no end in sight to the ordeal.

“Concurrently, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was banned as an alleged terrorist organisation in an illegal ex-parte proceeding that provoked the protest of five (5) United Nations Special Rapporteurs on human rights in an October 1, 2020, letter to Nigeria’s President Mohammadu Buhari.”

The three non-profit organisations passionately appealed to President Trump to take drastic action against the listed Nigerian jurists for promoting injustice, violations of human rights, and muzzling of free speech.

“Nigerian Justices and the former Attorney General, deserve Global Magnitsky Sanctions for violating Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s internationally recognised human rights in defense of free speech and association; and fair trial, to peacefully promote the Biafran right to self-determination enshrined in international law,” they stated.