Several pro-Igbo diaspora organisations have petitioned the US President Donald Trump, demanding sanctions against five Nigerian judges and a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) under Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over their alleged roles in the continued detention and prosecution of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The petition, dated August 28, 2025, was submitted to Trump by Kanu’s international lawyer, Bruce Fein, on behalf of the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Rising Sun Charities Organization, and Ambassadors for Self-Determination.

According to the groups, the judicial officers facilitated or endorsed violations of international law through Kanu’s abduction, extraordinary rendition, prolonged detention, and denial of fair trial rights. They urged the United States to apply the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102 (c), and Executive Order 13818 to the Nigerian officials.

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

The petition accused the jurists of endorsing arbitrary detention, denying Kanu access to counsel and medical care, and upholding ex parte orders proscribing IPOB without due process.

Citing international precedents, the groups referenced the US prosecution of Nazi judges for presiding over sham trials and the December 2024 sanction of Russian judge Olesya by the US government for her role in the arbitrary detention of Moscow city councillor and human rights defender, Alexi Gorniov.

“Judges enjoy no immunity for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” the petition argued, insisting that Nigeria’s judiciary should not be shielded from accountability.

The organisations also condemned Kanu’s protracted ordeal, including the military invasion of his Umuahia residence in 2015, which left scores of Biafra agitators dead. They maintained that Kanu’s call for a referendum on Biafra amounted to a lawful demand under international conventions on self-determination and that his persecution violated his fundamental rights.

The petitioners stressed that the US must act in line with its past record of sanctioning foreign officials implicated in human rights abuses to ensure justice for Kanu and to deter future violations.

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