An arm of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), known as the Concerned Peaceful Indigenous People of Biafra, has sent a Save Our Souls (SOS) appeal to the international community to stop further trial of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The letter, dated November 12, 2025, was submitted to the embassies of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and 19 other embassies in Abuja, with the subject: SOS – Urgent Global Humanitarian Intervention to End the Unlawful Detention and Torture of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The group said the appeal had become imperative because of the “unlawful abduction and continued detention of Kanu, leader of 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 group lamented that, “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, amounting to state-sponsored terrorism and torture.”
Among its demands on the diplomatic community are to enforce all binding local and international court orders for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s unconditional release; to investigate and sanction those involved in his illegal abduction from Kenya and ongoing torture in Nigeria; and the protection of peaceful IPOB members and campaigners against arbitrary arrests, harassment, and persecution.
The group also urged the global institutions and governments to “recognize the extraordinary humanitarian urgency of this case and initiate emergency diplomatic dialogue to prevent further escalation.”
The pro-IPOB group argued that the “kidnapping of a lawful self-determination leader from another sovereign nation is not a domestic issue — it is international terrorism,” warning that “failure to act emboldens future violations against activists and journalists worldwide.”
It also raised concerns over the deteriorating health of Kanu in the DSS custody and urged the international community to treat the matter with the urgency it deserves.
