Trouble for ex-AGF Malami, 5 Nigerian jurists as Igbo groups petition Trump over their roles in Kanu’s ordeal
By Steve Oko
Nigeria’s former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami; and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola, may have courted trouble following a petition against them before President Donald Trump of the United States of America,
over their alleged roles in the plight of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPoB Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Similar fate awaits four Nigerian jurists –
Justice Binta Murtala Nyaku, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, Justice Hamma Akawa Barlka, and Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba.
Wawa News Global reports that the petition against them was filled by tree pro- Igbo groups in diaspora – the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID); and Rising Sun Charities Organization; and Ambassadors for Self-Determination..
The petitioners in the letter dated August 28, 2025, and submitted by alleged violation of international laws in the abduction, extraordinary rendition, continued detention and prosecution of Kanu.
The petition which was submitted by Kanu’s international lawyer, Bruce Fein, urged President Trump to invoke the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102 (c) and E.O. 13818, against the affected individuals.
Allegations against the jurists include: arbitrary detention, denial of 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 Nigerian government to profit from its own crimes against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu”.
Malami who served as Nigeria’s AGF in the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari, was accused of “orchestrating Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition and arbitrary detention without trial.”
“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 fair trial, to peacefully promote the Biafran right to self-determination enshrined in international law”, the petition read.
AVID and others, argued that international laws and conventions were grossly abused variously by the affected judicial officers, 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 copious violation of human rights, and urged Trump to deal accordingly.
Electronic copy of the petition, sighted by Wawa News Global, 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 and association and a fair trial: Justice Binta MurtalaNyaku; Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani; Justice Hamma Akawa Barka; and 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 counselor and human rights defender, Alexi Gorniov, for voicing opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
The petition also condemned Kanu’s protracted persecution, and the invasion of his Umuahia country home in 2015 which claimed scores of Biafra agitators.
Arguing that Kanu has right under international laws to demand referendum as he was doing, the petition said his persecution for seeking self-determination through peaceful means, amounted to a violation of his fundamental rights.
“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 murdered, but he managed to
escape by a miracle.
“Concurrently, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was banned as an alleged
terrorist organization 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.
“In June 2021, Mr. Kanu was kidnapped and tortured by Nigerian authorities in Nairobi, Kenya, followed by 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 free unconditionally, the Nigeria Government had remained adamant.
“The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found on July 20, 2022, that Mr. Kanu’s detention violated sixteen (16) international human rights covenants. It ordered his immediate and unconditional release and reparations. Nigeria has flouted the Working Group 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 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.
“On January 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal, Abuja, affirmed the flagrantly illegal 2017 ex parte proscription of IPOB as a terrorist organization. (No other country in the world has followed suit including the United States).
On June 24, 2025, the High Court of Kenya, Nairobi, held that Mr. Kanu’s extraordinary
rendition was unconstitutional and illegal. It awarded him KES 10,000,000 in damages against Kenyan authorities for conspiring with Nigerian authorities.”
The petitioners further reminded Trumps that despite the devastations of the civil war, the agitation for Biafra has continued to resonate among the people as a result of entrenched injustice against them.
“Millions perished during the 1967-1970 Biafran War featuring the starvation of infants by the Nigerian government. But the subjugation of Biafrans never ceased.”
Kanu’s continued detention against several court judgments ordering his immediate and unconditional release, is believed to be part of the unabating tension and insecurity in the South East region.
Despite appeals by eminent Nigerians and groups from parts of the country for his release, the Federal Government has continued to hold him behind bars.
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