IPOB Urges Nigeria to Act on US Lawmakers' Demands

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called on the Nigerian government to respond to increasing pressure from the U.S. Congress regarding the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

U.S. Congressman John James, a Republican from Michigan, made a statement on the floor of the U.S.

House of Representatives on Thursday, demanding that Kanu be released immediately or granted a new trial. He emphasized that any retrial should ensure Kanu's access to evidence, legal representation, medical care, and humane detention conditions.

James criticized Nigeria as “the deadliest place on earth to be a Christian” and claimed that Kanu's conviction stemmed from a flawed judicial process. He urged his colleagues to support his bill for Kanu's unconditional release.

Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 2025 on terrorism-related charges and is currently held at the Sokoto Correctional Centre, with an appeal against his conviction pending. IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful praised James' intervention as historic and called for the Nigerian government to heed U.S. lawmakers' demands.