IPOB Writes US, UK, 19 Other Foreign Missions Over Nnamdi Kanu’s Release

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has written to 21 foreign diplomatic missions and international bodies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the European Union, seeking urgent global intervention for the unconditional release of its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The group in letter dated November 12, 2025, and titled “SOS – Urgent Global Humanitarian Intervention to End the Unlawful Detention and Torture of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” appealed to world powers to intervene in what it described as a continuing violation of court orders and international human rights rulings.

The correspondence was addressed to the diplomatic community in Abuja, including the embassies and high commissions of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Russia, China, Israel, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Turkey, Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the African Union.

According to the group, the appeal represents a follow-up to its earlier letters and diplomatic engagements aimed at drawing global attention to Kanu’s prolonged detention despite multiple legal and human rights pronouncements ordering his release.

“This is a global SOS appeal for urgent humanitarian and diplomatic intervention in the unlawful abduction and continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who was kidnapped in Kenya and extra-judicially transferred to Nigeria in June 2021 – a clear violation of international law and the sovereignty of Kenya,” the letter stated.

IPOB noted that several judicial bodies and international organizations, including the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, had called for Kanu’s unconditional release, yet the Nigerian government had allegedly failed to comply.

“Despite rulings by Nigerian courts, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and several international human rights resolutions ordering his unconditional release, the Nigerian government continues to detain him in solitary confinement under inhumane conditions,” the group said.

The pro-Biafra group further alleged that Kanu’s health had deteriorated in custody, urging the international community to treat the matter as a “life-saving emergency”.

“As of now, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s health has deteriorated gravely in DSS custody. His continued detention and the harassment of peaceful campaigners constitute a direct threat to human life, justice, and global peace,” the statement read.

IPOB therefore called on global powers to act immediately to ensure enforcement of court orders, investigation into his abduction, and protection for peaceful members of the group.

“We call on all world powers and international institutions to enforce all binding local and international court orders for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s unconditional release,” the group demanded.

The letter also urged the international community to investigate those allegedly involved in the “illegal abduction” of Kanu from Kenya and to sanction state officials responsible for rights violations.

The group called for a global inquiry into alleged human rights abuses and urged the international community to classify Nigeria as a state sponsor of terrorism.

“In view of the persistent and systematic human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, torture, and suppression of peaceful self-determination movements by the Nigerian Government and its security agencies, we hereby call on the international community to officially designate the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a state sponsor of terrorism,” IPOB said.

It further demanded that the United Nations, African Union, European Union, and world powers “urgently launch a global inquiry into Nigeria’s acts of state terrorism” and that the International Criminal Court expand its investigations into alleged crimes against humanity.

The group urged global governments to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and institutions allegedly responsible for rights abuses.

“The kidnapping of a lawful self-determination leader from another sovereign nation is not a domestic issue — it is international terrorism. Failure to act emboldens future violations against activists and journalists worldwide,” the letter added.