UN, AU, ECOWAS asked to demand Nnamdi Kanu’s release from 4 years detention
The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has issued a damning statement accusing the Nigerian government of enabling ethnic cleansing and political repression through the continued detention of Biafra agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
AVID called on the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the British government to urgently demand Kanu’s unconditional release, warning that his prolonged imprisonment is emboldening further violence against indigenous communities.
Kanu, a British citizen and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been in detention since 2021, following what AVID describes as an “illegal abduction” and extraordinary rendition from Kenya—an act it says violated international law.
In a statement released Tuesday and signed by AVID President, Dr. Sylvester Onyia, the group declared:
“These massacres are part of a sustained ethnic cleansing campaign that has accelerated since the illegal abduction and detention of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
AVID’s statement, titled “A Genocide in Slow Motion: Nigeria’s Continued Detention of Nnamdi Kanu Enables Widespread Atrocities,” links Kanu’s imprisonment to increased insecurity in Benue and other parts of Nigeria, where attacks by suspected armed herdsmen have continued unabated.
“His continued detention, despite multiple court orders for his release, is not a legal oversight—it is part of a broader, chilling plan to silence resistance against armed Fulani expansionism and the violent subjugation of indigenous peoples,” the statement added.
The group criticised the UK government for its inaction, noting that Kanu, a British national, has been denied his basic human rights.
“Why is a peaceful advocate of self-determination in prison while Fulani militants roam free?” AVID queried.
“Why is the Nigerian government more focused on crushing dissent than protecting lives?”
AVID urged the international media to stop ignoring what it called a “genocide-by-default” and hold the Nigerian government accountable for escalating violence and state-sponsored impunity.
“Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention is the green light for more massacres. The world must not stay silent,” it warned.
