Three pro-Igbo groups in the United States—the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Rising Sun Charities Organization, and Ambassadors for Self-Determination have petitioned President Donald Trump, urging his administration to sanction five Nigerian judges and a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, who served in the cabinet of late President Muhammadu Buhari, over their roles in the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In the petition submitted by Bruce Fein, international counsel to Nnamdi Kanu on behalf of the groups, and made available to Sunday Sun, the groups asked the US President to invoke the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102(c), and E.O. 13818 against the affected individuals for alleged violations of international law in the abduction, extraordinary rendition, continued detention, and prosecution of Kanu.
The affected jurists include Justices Binta Murtala Nyako, Haruna Simon Tsammani, Hamma Akawa Barka, Mohammed Lawal Garba, and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola. Also on the list is Abubakar Malami, immediate past AGF.
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Some of the allegations against the jurists range from arbitrary detention, denial of the right to counsel and access to necessary medical care, endorsement of ex-parte prohibition of IPOB without due process, to “affirmation of arbitrary detention to enable the Nigerian government to profit from its own crimes against Nnamdi Kanu.”
The groups accused the former AGF of “orchestrating Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition, and arbitrary detention without trial.”
The petitioners further stated: “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 and association, and a fair trial, to peacefully promote the Biafran right to self-determination enshrined in international law.”
The petitioners argued that the affected judicial officers grossly violated and abused international laws and conventions, insisting that they should not be allowed to go unpunished by the US.
They cited various instances where the US had in the past sanctioned jurists in foreign lands for serious violations of human rights and urged Trump to act accordingly.
The petition read in part:
“Dear Mr. President: I represent American Veterans of Igbo Descent, Rising Sun Charities Organization, and Ambassadors for Self-Determination. All three are nonprofit organizations substantially dedicated to monitoring gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, especially in Nigeria.
“Pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102, and E.O. 13818, the three nonprofit organizations 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, association, and a fair trial: Justice Binta Murtala Nyako; Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani; Justice Hamma Akawa Barka; Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba; and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola.
“Judges enjoy no immunity for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Nazi judges were prosecuted by the United States for presiding over sham trials where the outcome had been predetermined by Nazi authorities (see ‘Judges Trial,’ United States v. Joseph Alstotter, et al.). Russian judge Olesya was sanctioned by the United States on December 31, 2024, for participating in the arbitrary detention of Moscow city councillor and human rights defender Alexi Gorniov for voicing opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Condemning the protracted prosecution of Kanu, the petitioners said:
“Nigeria’s protracted persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for peaceful advocacy of a self-determination referendum in Biafra commenced as early as 2015. In September 2017, Nigeria’s military attempted to assassinate Mr. Kanu in his home. Many were killed, but he managed to escape by a miracle.
“Concurrently, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was banned as an alleged terrorist organization in an illegal ex-parte proceeding that provoked the protest of five United Nations Special Rapporteurs on human rights in an October 1, 2020, letter to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In June 2021, Mr. Kanu was kidnapped and tortured by Nigerian authorities in Nairobi, Kenya, followed by an extraordinary rendition to Abuja, Nigeria. He has been detained in solitary confinement without trial and without proper access to lawyers ever since.”
The petitioners also reminded Trump that despite various court judgments ordering Kanu’s release, as well as the United Nations opinion that he be freed unconditionally, the Nigerian Government had remained adamant.
“The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found on July 20, 2022, that Mr. Kanu’s detention violated sixteen international human rights covenants. It ordered his immediate and unconditional release and reparations. Nigeria has flouted the Working Group’s decision for more than three years.
“On October 26, 2022, the Federal High Court (Umuahia) declared Mr. Kanu’s extraordinary rendition unlawful and unconstitutional. It awarded him ₦500,000,000 in damages.
“On December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, while acknowledging that the Nigerian government’s extraordinary rendition of Mr. Kanu was criminal, nevertheless decreed that the fruits of its crime—his detention and prosecution—were legal.
